Category: Los Angeles

More than 3,400 fire personnel are battling the Lake Fire near Los Olivos in tough conditions. Steep terrain out there and a lot of poison oak, Shane Greer, a handcrew firefighter for Orange County said. Greer is part of a hand crew assigned to the blaze. Once we go through and remove the fuel we put our stamp of approval on it after we monitor it and make sure it doesn’t spread, and then go to another piece of the fire, and do the same thing, Greer said. William Gatti is a Ventura Training Center participant working 24-hour shifts. Being out there for 24 hours, so it would be the lack of sleep sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad days, Gatti said. Gattis group from the Ventura Training Center is one of many agencies from in and out of the state helping contain the fire. Formerly incarcerated, Gatti tells me he enrolled in the 18-month program that offers him a second chance. When you get to jail you go to reception and that’s where they place you in whatever prison you’re

People on the Central Coast are reacting to Saturdays apparent assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. It shocked the heck out of me. I just didn’t think that would happen nowadays,” said Margie McLean of Grover Beach. Michael Leininger, a retired San Jose police officer and current law enforcement analyst, provides insight into the preparations involved in organizing a rally for a presidential candidate. There is an advanced team from the Secret Service that comes out… “It’s quite an operation,” Leininger says. Leininger says that the Secret Service is primarily responsible for these events, ensuring security measures, including the use of metal detectors and monitoring entrances and exits. You’ll have different law enforcement agencies. It’s not just the Secret Service. ATF will be there,” Leininger explains. “They’ll be undercover, the counter sniper teams… You won’t even see them come in. They’ll come in several vans and just literally disappear. Some people on the Central Coast are questioning the security measures that allowed the shooter to get onto a nearby roof at the rally. How did the Secret Service or any other law enforcement agency not realize that

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is recovering Monday morning after walking away from his San Marino home, authorities confirmed to KTLA.   LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau said they offered local police needed resources and support in locating Baca, whose family was concerned for his safety. The 82-year-old former L.A. sheriff was wearing a medical bracelet which helped officials eventually find him and identify him, San Marino Police Chief John Incontro said. “He was found in good condition … and he’s been reunited with his family and resting comfortably,” Incontro said. Baca, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, served a three-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2017 of obstruction of justice.   He resigned amid the corruption scandal in 2014 and was convicted of lying to the FBI and trying to thwart the agency’s investigation into corruption in the nation’s largest jail system.  Agents had been secretly looking into allegations of bribery and inmate beatings by jail guards in 2011 when Baca and his top lieutenants learned that an inmate was acting as an FBI informant.  Former Los Angeles County Sheriff

ARLINGTON, Texas —  Natasha Watley grew up in Irvine, played softball at UCLA, won gold for Team USA 20 years ago. She lives in Los Angeles now, and she was excited to share her hometown and her sport with the current generation of Olympians. Until last month, that is, when Olympic organizers announced that softball games for the 2028 L.A. Olympics would be played in Oklahoma City. “To me, it almost felt like a slap in the face,” Watley said. “It’s the easy way out, to send everybody to Oklahoma.” Watley and Jennie Finch, another of the 2004 gold medalists, joined Major League Baseball here this week as part of the All-Star Game festivities. Finch, who grew up in La Mirada, said she initially considered the decision to move Olympic softball games out of Los Angeles “heartbreaking.” Watley said the decision would deprive softball players of the full Olympic experience. “I had that experience,” she said, “just coming into the dining hall, and seeing Michael Phelps with his actual medal after he won, seeing Kobe Bryant and hanging out with him. “It’s the little intricacies of

Updated on: July 15, 2024 / 6:51 AM EDT / CBS/AP DEA cracking down on pill presses DEA cracking down on pill presses to fight fentanyl crisis 04:59 A group of gang members who trafficked drugs and guns and used dating websites to connect with people interested in hiring prostitutes were responsible for a series of robberies that led to four deaths, federal prosecutors said Friday. Dubbed the “fentanyl robbery gang” (F.R.G.), the group worked from New Hampshire to Virginia, according to Gerard Karam, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He said the gang members and their associates would arrange to visit a victim’s location with the intent to rob them of guns, cash, cellphones, identification documents, debit and credit cards, drugs and other items of value. The defendants were identified as Amanda Marie Correa, 29, Robert Andrew Barnes, 24, Christine Deann DiCarlo, 50, Shaqare Jaymont Blackwell, 23, Shakur Serafin Brownstein, 27, Dylan Wilson Small, 35, and Samual Jordan, 42. Officials said the gang lured men into meeting a woman for a “date” by using dating apps such as “Plenty of Fish”

July 15, 2024 / 6:36 AM EDT / AFP 5/26/2023: The Sperm Whales of Dominica; Monkey Island; Hanging On 5/26/2023: The Sperm Whales of Dominica; Monkey Island; Hanging On 42:58 Wellington, New Zealand — Spade-toothed whales are the world’s rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. No one knows how many there are, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean. However, scientists in New Zealand may have finally caught a break. The country’s conservation agency said Monday a creature that washed up on a South Island beach this month is believed to be a spade-toothed whale. The five-meter-long creature, a type of beaked whale, was identified after it washed ashore on Otago beach from its color patterns and the shape of its skull, beak and teeth “We know very little, practically nothing” about the creatures, Hannah Hendriks, Marine Technical Advisor for the Department of Conservation, told The Associated Press. “This is going to lead to some amazing science and world-first information.” In this photo provided by the Department of Conservation, rangers Jim Fyfe and Tūmai

July 15, 2024 / 6:17 AM EDT / CBS/AFP The origins of breaking, the newest Olympic sport The origins of breaking, the newest Olympic sport 05:58 Paris — The torch relay ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics reached the French capital for the first time on Sunday, with organizers hoping to build enthusiasm for the Games among the city’s skeptical residents. The flame was first glimpsed during the traditional military parade held every year on the July 14 national holiday, largely known outside the country as Bastille Day, and then began its tour around the city from the Champs-Elysees. World Cup-winning soccer great Thierry Henry was given the honor of the first leg on the capital’s most famous avenue, with the torch then heading for landmarks including the parliament and Notre-Dame cathedral “It’s not something you turn down, on our national day, on the Champs-Elysees, the Olympics in Paris,” Henry told reporters of his star turn. “Just extraordinary.” French soccer star Thierry Henry, the first bearer of the Olympic Torch in Paris ahead of the Paris 2024 Summer Games, carries the torch as it is

If Donald Trump is sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom in September for covering up hush-money payments to a porn star (no longer a certainty, given the Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity), it may bring closure of sorts to a chapter in American history. But the former president’s legal woes in other courts will continue, and so will the American public’s master class in the law. Some spectators have complained that judges bend over backward for the former president, affording Trump deference that the average person would never enjoy. Others believe that Trump has been victimized simply because he is Trump. Whatever one thinks of the man or his pursuers, all this legal wrangling around him has had a surprising benefit to democracy and the rule of law: People are thinking and talking about those legal questions and many others. In the more than 50 years I have been trying cases and arguing appeals, only during the O.J. Simpson trial have I seen the media traffic resemble my first-year class in law school as much as it has in recent months. We’re all seeing

Coronavirus levels have jumped significantly in wastewater across the nation, an indication that the summer bump is continuing to grow. National virus measurements in sewage reached “high” levels for the first time this summer, according to estimates released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 is growing or probably growing in 44 states and in the nation’s capital, the agency reported. And for the first time since the winter, California has “very high” coronavirus levels in its wastewater, according to CDC data for the week ending July 6. California was one of seven states in this category; the others are Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon and Texas. Nineteen other states, covering every region in the country, have high coronavirus levels in sewage. Coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater are now estimated to be significantly higher than last summer. And in Northern California two of the largest sewersheds, covering San Jose and Palo Alto in Santa Clara County (the region’s most populous county), reported high levels of the virus in wastewater. Also, the rate at which COVID tests are coming back with positive

The attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania almost immediately gave rise to internet conspiracy theories that experts say will influence how the nation deals with the shocking act of political violence. The Trump attack marks the first time in decades someone had tried to take a presidential candidate’s life. While previous assassinations — notably the killing of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 — have brought conspiracy theories, the rise of partisan social media allows such claims to spread rapidly and in unexpected ways. The Trump shooting claims typically came from random social media users — the writers casting aspersions or seeking to affix blame based on their place in the nation’s intensely polarized political landscape. The conspiracies formed two now familiar camps — one blaming the “deep state” for what happened, the other claiming without evidence that the shooting was not what it seemed. “Seemed staged,” one social media user wrote. But even some elected officials joined with false claims. “Joe Biden sent the orders,” Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) wrote on X, the social media platform. Some claim

Many University of California regents and campus leaders are signaling they will no longer tolerate encampments and intend to consistently enforce rules pertaining to protests as they brace for the possible escalation of campus turmoil over the Israel-Hamas war when students return to class in the fall. “I am confident that encampments won’t be tolerated,” Regent Rich Leib said in a recent interview before stepping down as board chair. “I’m confident the regents feel we need to enforce the rules.” Protests inflamed campuses after Hamas militants attacked Israel in October and Israel responded with a massive, ongoing military retaliation in Gaza. Encampments became the physical symbol of pro-Palestinian protests at numerous colleges nationwide, including all 10 UC campuses beginning in April. But, lacking a systemwide directive on how to handle them, campuses responded differently. Some chancellors shut down encampments with police intervention after a few days. Others allowed them to stay up for weeks before students voluntarily dismantled them. At some campuses, protesters fortified the spaces with defensive plywood walls and barricades — but Jewish students complained they blocked access to public walkways and buildings

MILWAUKEE —  Jeff Burns was excited about attending his first in-person Republican National Convention, spending time with fellow conservatives — a rarity for a Bay Area GOP voter — and celebrating former President Trump being officially named the party’s 2024 nominee. What’s more, as Burns flew to Milwaukee Saturday, he was seated next to veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove. But then images of Trump recoiling from a would-be assassin’s bullet flashed across their seat-back monitors. In an instant, he said, “the gravity of the world we live in and the extremism and the violence and the rhetoric for both parties” became front of mind. What was supposed to be a joyous time had been “turned on its head,” he said Sunday. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.” Such are the emotions swirling as Burns and other delegates gather for the four-day convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee. There’s relief that Trump survived, dismay that such a thing could happen and resolve to move forward. Burns, 52, a Danville resident and chair of the Contra Costa Republican Party in Northern California, said the images

Pablo Molinos Gallego, de Zaragoza, estuvo en Taps 33 este domingo por la mañana para presenciar la conquista de la Eurocopa 2024 sobre Inglaterra, con lo que España se convierte en el máximo ganador de la competición. “Ha sido un día espectacular. España ha jugado muy bien. Luis de la Fuente, enhorabuena cómo planteó el partido”, declaró Molinos Gallegos. “Es el mejor regalo que me podían dar hoy tan lejos de mi casa”. Al igual que Molinos Gallegos, decenas de españoles que viven en Los Ángeles se reunieron en este restaurante del centro de Los Ángeles para ver a la Furia Roja vencer por 2-1 a Inglaterra en el Olympiastadion de Berlín, Alemania. Un gol de Mikel Oyarzabal a cuatro minutos del final dio a España la victoria. Cristina Aparicio y María Cisneros gozaron juntas la final, y specialmente para Cisneros el momento cuando Dani Olmo sacó en la línea de gol un balón que tenía destino de gol al minuto 90, lo que evitó que Inglaterra empatara el encuentro. “Lo que más he celebrado ese momento fue brutal, casi más que el gol”, declaró

One person was killed and another wounded in an attack in a residential neighborhood in Lancaster Sunday. The assault was reported about 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the 43000 block of 59th Street West, Lt. Mike Rose of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station told City News Service. Both victims were taken to a hospital by ambulance, Rose said. One was pronounced dead and the other had stable vital signs. The victims’ ages, genders and relationship were not immediately released. Rose also did not release a suspect description but said, “There is somebody being detained.” Sheriff’s homicide detectives were summoned to the scene to investigate, he said.

The intersection outside the headquarters of the LA84 Foundation in South Los Angeles was dedicated in its honor Sunday in connection with the 40th anniversary of its founding. Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who introduced the motion to name the intersection of West Adams Boulevard and South Gramercy Place as “LA84 Foundation Square,” spoke at the ceremony at the foundation’s headquarters. The foundation was founded with the surplus from the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. It makes grants to organizations from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.-Mexico border that focus on youth development through sport. The foundation has hosted sports and recreation activities for 4 million children, provided funding to 2,500 nonprofit organizations, trained 200,000 coaches and built or refurbished 400 recreational facilities, including fields, pools and courts, according to Hutt’s motion. More than 300,000 children have participated in the foundation’s summer swimming programs, with 150,000 of them learning how to swim. The foundation promotes play and recreation equity to ensure that all children, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic background, have the ability to play and be physically active. The foundation’s headquarters

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is missing after walking away from his San Marino home, authorities confirmed to KTLA.   LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau said Baca was reported missing Sunday and that the department was in contact with family members, who are concerned for his safety, and offering needed resources and support in locating him.   The 82-year-old former L.A. sheriff, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, served a three-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2017 of obstruction of justice.   Baca, who resigned amid the corruption scandal in 2014, was convicted of lying to the FBI and trying to thwart the agency’s investigation into corruption in the nation’s largest jail system.  Agents had been secretly looking into allegations of bribery and inmate beatings by jail guards in 2011, when Baca and his top lieutenants learned that an inmate was acting as an FBI informant.  Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca walks with his wife and attorneys to the U.S. District Courthouse in Los Angeles for his sentencing on May 12, 2017. (Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca went missing from his home in San Marino on Sunday afternoon, according to authorities. Baca, now 82, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, The Times previously reported . The former sheriff was last seen leaving his home around 4:30 p.m., officials said. He was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt and black pants, according to an internal department message. He should be wearing a metal medical alert bracelet, the message said. “His family, friends and colleagues along with members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is concerned for his well-being,” a Sheriff’s Department spokesperson told The Times on Sunday evening. “We are in contact with his family, offering our assistance and support during this difficult time.” The department said it would be providing additional resources to assist the San Marino Police Department with the search. Raised by his grandparents in East Los Angeles, Baca dropped out of community college and was hired as a beat cop with the Sheriff’s Department. He worked his way up the ranks, eventually earning a doctorate from USC. He worked for the department

El programa de cuidado infantil, apenas planificado, de Kristen Dang está en pleno apogeo del verano, una hazaña logística costosa y preocupante que ha puesto a prueba su destreza maternal. Y ella se considera una de las afortunadas. Consiguió un codiciado campamento de seis semanas para su hijo Brady, que pronto cumplirá 9 años, en el Centro Recreativo de Reseda. En marzo, el marido de Dang esperó tres horas en la fila para conseguir un lugar de 80 dólares por semana en el programa del Departamento de Parques y Recreación de Los Ángeles. Las dos semanas que no podrán salir del parque estarán llenas de campamentos de surf y béisbol, pero estos solo ocupan una parte de la jornada laboral y cuestan 900 dólares en total. Los horarios de recogida y entrega varían día a día, ya que los padres hacen malabarismos con sus horarios de trabajo. En agosto, Dang debe llenar dos semanas vacías. La abuela ocupará una de ellas. Luego, es probable que Dang lleve a Brady a trabajar con ella en el departamento de informática de una escuela privada. “Es muy difícil

Firefighters in Kern County were battling several wildfires over the weekend, spurring evacuations, burning thousands of acres and leading to the closure of Interstate 5 in both directions near Lost Hills on Sunday night. The Hurricane fire, which began Saturday in San Luis Obispo County, had burned 20,000 acres and was 10% contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to a news release from the Kern County Fire Department. South of Arvin, the Rancho fire, had burned nearly 10,000 acres and led to about 1,000 residents being evacuated in portions of the communities of Stallion Springs and Bear Valley Springs. By Sunday afternoon, the order affecting Stallion Springs had been reduced to a “warning,” and residents were allowed to return home, the Fire Department said. Near the community of Twin Lakes, the White fire had burned 3,412 acres as of Sunday afternoon and was 7% contained. About 30 people were evacuated from the area, and one home and one outbuilding were destroyed, according to the news release. Late Sunday, California Highway Patrol officers helped respond to reports of flames nearing Interstate 5. As of 10 p.m.

Sheriff’s detectives asked for public help Sunday to find a 56-year-old woman who went missing in Lancaster. Yvonne Page Wrightnour was last seen at midnight Sunday morning in the 1600 block of West Avenue J. She requires medication and there is concern for her well-being, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Wrightnour is white. She stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds. She has long brown hair and hazel eyes, the department reported. Anyone with information on her whereabouts was asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at 323-890-5500. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477/

Family members, as well as law enforcement officials, are ask for the public’s help in locating a 77-year-old man from the South Bay region of Los Angeles who has not been seen since late last month.   Authorities say that on June 25 around 2 p.m., Young Jin left his residence in Gardena, near Western Avenue and 147th Street, for his daily walk and never returned.   Jin, who does not suffer from any mental health conditions, recently had a stroke and needs daily medication to manage his blood pressure and cholesterol, authorities said in a missing persons bulletin.   Gardena Police Department missing persons bullet for Young Jin, last seen on June 25, 2024. (GPD) Young Jin, 77, seen in this undated photo. (viewer pic) The 77-year-old is described as 5’6” tall, weighing around 126 pounds with gray hair. He was last seen wearing a burgundy vest, a straw hat and gray pants.   Jin is known to frequent Gardena, Koreatown and the Palmdale area.   Anyone who might have seen Jin or may have information on his whereabouts is urged to contact Gardena