Category: Los Angeles

Early one morning in Westlake, as neighborhood children walked to school, I spotted a woman heading in my direction. She was holding the hand of a little girl who wore a mask, carefully leading her around three people who were sprawled on the pavement. They were walking on Bonnie Brae Street, a couple blocks east of MacArthur Park, where it’s not uncommon to see people who are either asleep or passed out, with syringes and needles scattered about. Steve Lopez Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist. Eduardo Aguirre, the girl’s father, was hustling up behind his family and called my name. I had toured the neighborhood with him one night in September, taking inventory of broken streetlights, a torched playground in the park and countless other problems that have battered Westlake for years. The Aguirres generally don’t let their 6-year-old daughter use the park, even though for them and thousands of other apartment dwellers, it’s the most conveniently located

Two 23-year-old Southern California men have been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors out of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency, according to authorities. Gabriel Hay of Beverly Hills and Gavin Mayo of Thousand Oaks are accused of collecting investments for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and digital asset projects with no intention of sticking around to see those efforts realized, prosecutors said. The U.S. attorney’s office says that from May 2021 to May 2024, they and an unnamed co-conspirator collected $22.4 million from multiple “rug pull” schemes — in which a token or project creator collects investor funds, but then abandons the project while keeping the money. The indictment alleges Hay and Mayo falsely claimed one NFT project, called Vault of Gems, would be the first “to be pegged to a hard asset,” telling investors that the project would work with jewelers around the world and had “already started making [its] own exchange” for jewelry retailers to use. “What’s happening?” asked a November 2021 post by the Vault of Gems X account. Confusion and frustration followed in the replies, which included the allegation that Hay and

SAN FRANCISCO —  On a recent Sunday on the far edge of the Outer Sunset, a cozy oceanfront neighborhood with rows of pastel bungalows, hundreds of people enjoyed a stretch of the iconic coastal road known as the Great Highway. A dad taught his kid how to ride a bike. A young couple strolled with their baby in a bassinet. Two surfers hauled their boards toward the crashing Pacific waves. A day later, the same swath of asphalt was covered with cars, transformed back into a commuter route for thousands of drivers who use the Great Highway to get to work, the airport, school or other parts of town. This two-mile stretch, known as the Upper Great Highway — which starts at the tip of Golden Gate Park and runs south along Ocean Beach — has become a political traffic jam in recent years, with locals clashing over how best to use the historic avenue as coastal erosion and sea level rise threaten its future. Division over the Upper Great Highway’s fate adds to an ongoing debate between so-called urbanists who want to see the city

An Arcadia City Council member is the fiancée of a man charged by federal prosecutors this week with acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government by attempting to influence local politicians, according to court records and interviews. The personal relationship between Eileen Wang, elected two years ago to the council of the San Gabriel Valley suburb, and Yaoning “Mike” Sun deepens questions around what Wang knew about an alleged plot to push pro-China policies, particularly regarding Taiwan. In the criminal complaint against Sun, prosecutors referred to a local politician, “Individual 1,” alleging that Sun and his Chinese government contacts were cultivating the politician in hopes that she would rise in politics and help them strengthen China’s influence in California. Two sources familiar with the investigation identified Wang as Individual 1. The complaint described Sun as Individual 1’s campaign manager and business partner and said the address Sun had registered with the DMV was a home owned by Individual 1. Prosecutors have not charged Wang with a crime. A source familiar with the case, who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity

The San Luis Obispo Creek flooded Higuera Street back in January 2023. The city is now preparing for its largest flood-reduction project yet. KSBYs Eduardo Huijon Jr. found out how the upcoming project will increase the creeks capacity and reduce the risk of flooding in the area. Brian Nelson, the deputy director of public works for the city, says there have been three to four floods in the city over the last 50 years. Nelson says the Mid-Higuera Bypass Project came out of the citys Water Management Plan and looked at ways to mitigate flooding in the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed. It started with 2003 in the Waterway Management Plan, said Nelson. But it’s really got going over the last five to 10 years. We received a $6 million Department of Water Resources grant. The city’s appropriated local revenue measure funds to support the work. According to Nelson, the total cost of the project is $13 million. It will increase the creeks capacity by 40% during a 25-year storm event and reduce floodwater surface elevation by 6 to 18 inches. The city plans to

On December 2, Santa Barbara County joined the rest of the state in implementing the CARE Act, a court-based program aimed at addressing homelessness and undiagnosed schizophrenia spectrum disorders with community-based care. “I think everyone needs to feel hope and to know that there is someone that they have in their court, someone that’s paying attention to them and vying for them to get the help and the support that they need,” said Suzanne Grimmesey, Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness. Data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness shows less than one percent of the U.S. population is diagnosed with schizophrenia. “But for those who have that diagnosis, the need is significant,” Grimmesey said. In Santa Barbara, 30% of homeless people have a serious mental health condition according to the county, of which a small fraction might have a disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum. “Even for those that are not eligible through the petition process, it will help to create bridges to our department and allow us to engage people in services and hopefully get more people the help that they need,” Grimmesey said.

A man and a woman were fatally shot in Altadena Friday evening. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to the 700 block of West Sacramento Street, near Casitas Avenue, at 8:04 p.m. Friday regarding reports of a shooting and found the victims, the Sheriff’s Information Bureau said. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Anyone with information about the shootings was asked to encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or send tips to visit lacrimestoppers.org.

The numbers in Friday evening’s draw of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery are 2, 20, 51, 56, 67 and the Mega number is 19. The estimated jackpot is $862 million, the seventh largest jackpot in the history of the game and 12th largest in U.S. history. There have been five Powerball drawings with larger jackpots, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which conducts the game The drawing was the 29th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold. The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number is 1 in 302,575,350, according to the California Lottery. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24. The Mega Millions game began in 1996 as The Big Game and was given the new name Mega Millions in 2002. The Mega Millions game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Residents are frightened and angry as a group of suspects continue ransacking San Fernando Valley homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind. A Valley Village resident said she was stunned and shaken up after thieves targeted her home on Dec. 17 between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The break-in was captured on home surveillance cameras as a male suspect approached the house and appeared to be disguised as a delivery man. “Ten minutes after we left [our home], someone was knocking at the door and our dog was barking away,” she said. “Then within a minute, someone had broken into the back of the house, smashed the glass door, came in and locked the dog in a room and just trashed the house. They took all of my jewelry.” Photos of the aftermath showed drawers in every room were removed and emptied and all of the woman’s belongings were thrown across the floor in heaping piles. “It was very frightening and very scary,” the homeowner, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade. A burglar is heard yelling, “Shut up bi*ch! I’m

Cuando el papa salió del Vaticano a principios de mes para su tradicional salida navideña por el centro, vio de lo que muchos romanos llevaban meses quejándose: sus grandes planes para el Año Santo han convertido su ciudad en un enorme solar en construcción, con obras que obstruyen el tráfico y destrozan las principales arterias, andamios cubriendo preciados monumentos y alquileres vacacionales copando los bloques de apartamentos. El pontífice argentino instó a los romanos a rezar por su alcalde — “Tiene mucho que hacer” — pero también a recibir el próximo Jubileo como un tiempo de reparación y renovación espiritual. “Estas obras están bien, pero cuidado: ¡No olviden las obras del alma!”, dijo. La próxima semana, cuando inaugure formalmente el Año Santo, el papa dará comienzo a un vertiginoso calendario de 12 meses de actos que incluyen Misas del Jubileo especiales para los fieles de todos los ámbitos de la vida: artistas, adolescentes, migrantes, profesores y presos. Y aunque el inicio oficial del Año Santo supone que lo peor de las obras está llegando a su fin, la llegada de los 32 millones de peregrinos

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (KTVX) — After more than a decade, one Utah County family has been reunited with their long-lost cat. Laura and Cole Christensen told Nexstar’s KTVX they adopted Mischa, a beautiful gray Russian Blue, 11 years ago, shortly after they built their first home near Orem. The home was built near some wetlands and they knew they would need a cat to deal with the mice. North Hollywood family’s dog stolen from backyard “When you have mice, you get a cat,” said Laura. “So we found her [online] and then went and picked her up, and brought her home.” But after having Mischa for just a few weeks, their beloved feline took an opportunity to bolt out of their backdoor, and the Christensens thought their cat was gone forever. “We did look,” explained Laura. “She was chipped. So we thought maybe we would get a call and say, ‘Hey, somebody has turned in your cat.’ Or one of the neighbors would say, ‘Hey, I saw your cat.’ And never. Not a word.” Photos show Mischa, the Russian Blue cat that had gone missing

Residents are frightened and angry as a group of suspects continue ransacking San Fernando Valley homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind. A Valley Village resident said she was stunned and shaken up after thieves targeted her home on Dec. 17 between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The break-in was captured on home surveillance cameras as a male suspect approached the house and appeared to be disguised as a delivery man. “Ten minutes after we left [our home], someone was knocking at the door and our dog was barking away,” she said. “Then within a minute, someone had broken into the back of the house, smashed the glass door, came in and locked the dog in a room and just trashed the house. They took all of my jewelry.” Photos of the aftermath showed drawers in every room were removed and emptied and all of the woman’s belongings were thrown across the floor in heaping piles. “It was very frightening and very scary,” the homeowner, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade. A burglar is heard yelling, “Shut up bi*ch! I’m

Social Security benefits could increase Social Security benefits could increase for millions of Americans after key Senate vote 02:55 Nearly 3 million Americans will receive full Social Security benefits under legislation passed in the waning hours of the current Congress and now headed to President Biden, who is expected to sign into law.  Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would  eliminate two federal policies  that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.  “The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday. Congressional passage came down to the wire. After garnering bipartisan approval in the U.S. House in November, Senate approval came shortly after midnight, just ahead of a continuing resolution to keep the government  from shutting down . The votes marked the final ones cast by

Authorities are searching for four men suspected of rear-ending a man, kidnapping him and then burglarizing his home in Corona, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday. The victim, Donald Pierre Jr., said he had just dropped off his dog at the groomer and was on his way to run another errand on Wednesday morning when he was rear-ended near the Indian Truck Trail and the 15 Freeway. After the collision, Donald said he got out of the car and called his wife, Sandra Beltran Pierre, while he assessed the damage. While on the phone with Sandra, a man from the other vehicle, a silver Ford SUV, allegedly approached and confronted Donald. Donald and the man went back and forth about the situation – a conversation that ultimately escalated with the suspect attacking him. Amidst this attack, the sheriff’s office said more men came out of the other car, joined in the assault and then forced Donald into the back of their vehicle. Donald said the suspects then went through his car and took what they could. However, while all of this was happening, Sandra

A driver is being praised for her heroic actions after she stopped a garbage truck that was engulfed in flames from crashing into Orange County homes on Friday morning. Home surveillance video taken around 7:50 a.m. showed the moment the truck malfunctioned on Mount Triumph Way, bursting into flames mere feet away from a family’s home in Yorba Linda. The homeowners, Mark and Candice Holman, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff that their children were still in bed when it happened. “The combustion, it kept popping, and I got worried as it got closer to the gas tank that we didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Candice. The truck crashed into two of the family’s brand-new trucks before rolling down the hill, spreading its flames onto the hillside and endangering the life of the truck operator. “It was fully engaged, the tree was engulfed,” detailed Mark. “This was a really bad situation.” Authorities said it could have been much worse had it not been for a very brave truck operator who prevented the fire from spreading further. The driver, who had jumped out of the

Fue a través de Lord que nuestros entrevistados contactaron a Héctor Medina, un actor cubano que vive en Miami desde hace ocho años y que, debido a sus propias experiencias en diferentes ciudades de la isla, trabajó a lo largo de seis meses como asesor del guión que ellos mismos habían escrito. Medina nació y creció en Pinar del Río, una ciudad ubicada en el oeste cubano, antes de trasladarse a La Habana para desarrollar su carrera como actor; y fue allí donde entró en contacto con la comunidad punk, pese a que nunca perteneció a ella. “En Cuba, en aquellos momentos, solo habían dos canales de televisión y algunas estaciones de radio, y todas decían lo mismo; pero en la calle, uno escuchaba ciertas leyendas, y yo escuché la de los ‘frikis’”, nos dijo Medina en una entrevista separada. “De hecho, recuerdo que, siendo niño, vi a uno y me dijeron: ‘Aléjate de él, que es un piojoso’”. “Pero cuando tenía unos 13 años, un tío mío, que parecía más mi hermano que mi tío por lo joven que era, me llevó a Pista

A motorcyclist was killed in a collision in Huntington Beach, police said Friday. Justin Keith-Louis Ketteringham, 28, of Huntington Beach, was killed in Thursday night’s collision at Springdale Street and Warner Avenue, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s-Coroner’s Department. Ketteringham was heading southbound on Springdale Street when his motorcycle was struck by a northbound Lexus GX460 SUV as its driver was turning into a business complex at the southwest corner of Warner Avenue and Springdale Street, police said. Ketteringham lost control of the motorcycle and collided with a Lexus CT200h four-door hatchback eastbound as it exited a driveway at 17101 Springdale St., police said. The 25-year-old woman driving the Lexus CT200h was suspected of driving impaired and was arrested, police said. Her name was not immediately released. Anyone who saw the collision and can help investigators determine its cause was asked to call investigators at 714-536-5670.

The University of California has resolved nine federal civil rights complaints of antisemitism and bias against Muslim, Arab and pro-Palestinian students stemming from Israel-Hamas war protests at five UC campuses, including UCLA and UCSD, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday. The complaints alleged that the universities failed to respond promptly or effectively to harassment of their students based on their actual or perceived national origin — including shared Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian and Arab ancestry — and that some of the universities subjected these students to different treatment with respect to their access to campus or university programs. With regard to UCLA and its law school, civil rights compliance concerns stemmed in part from the university’s receipt of more than 150 reports about protests and rallies in October and November 2023, as well as complaints related to an encampment on campus in the spring of 2024. These and other reports included: — Reports of rally chants such as “death to Israel.” A separate video reviewed by OCR depicted a group that included students beating an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and shouting

By Amanda Cappelli December 21, 2024 / 12:01 AM EST / CBS News Winter solstice traditions around the world People around the world ring in the winter solstice with ancient traditions 01:01 The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.  What is the winter solstice? The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.  The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.  How is the day of the winter solstice determined? The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.  When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice

12/20: CBS Evening News – CBS News Watch CBS News At least 2 dead, dozens injured in Germany Christmas market attack; Kids inspired by Secret Santa give out total of $10,000 to strangers Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

A woman was arrested for allegedly operating a brothel at her home in Thousand Oaks. The suspect was identified as Jian Hu, 35, Monterey Park, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday. Detectives began investigating Hu in April 2024 when they received tips on suspicious activity occurring at a home in the 200 block of Camino Manzanas in Thousand Oaks. Investigators suspected the residence was operating as a brothel where “commercial sex acts were taking place.” Authorities also described the brothel as “high-end.” In November, a search warrant was served at the home and deputies made contact with Hu. Evidence was found at the home allegedly proving that Hu was financially benefitting from workers who were providing sex acts at the property, officials said. Detectives also contacted two women who were later confirmed to be potential victims of human trafficking. Both women were connected with local victim services providers. Woman accused of operating brothels disguised as skin care spas across SoCal Hu was taken into custody on charges of pimping and booked into the Ventura County Sheriff’s Main Jail. She was released from custody after