Category: Los Angeles

A family is fighting to stop the possible release of a Riverside man who was sentenced to prison for molesting and kidnapping a 5-year-old girl. Charles William Mix, 69, was sentenced to 350 years in prison for the 2003 kidnapping. The victim, who is now 27 years old, still isn’t ready to speak on the incident, but her sister, Claira Stansbury, said the events changed her family’s life forever. “She has to deal with this for the rest of her life and she has to learn to cope with what happened to her for the rest of her life,” Stansbury said. On the morning of June 2, 2003, the girl’s father reported to Riverside Police that his roommate, Mix, had kidnapped his daughter, prompting an AMBER Alert. Mix and the girl’s father were friends and had been living together in Riverside at the time. The next day, the pair was located hundreds of miles away in Richfield, Utah after a passerby reported seeing him and the girl. Mix had transported the girl across state lines in a stolen vehicle. During the investigation, authorities discovered sexually

A Los Angeles County jail in Castaic in 2015. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) A Los Angeles County jail inmate in Castaic this month was grazed by a bullet from a nearby shooting range used by the FBI, law enforcement officials said Friday. The incident happened Aug. 9, when the inmate — who has not been identified — was on a porch outside the inmate housing barracks at Pitchess Detention Center South Facility, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The inmate reported the incident to jail staff, who discovered that several vehicles had also been struck by bullets. It’s not clear how seriously the inmate was hurt, but officials said an “injury report was completed.” The county’s northern-most jail complex has long housed outdoor shooting ranges, including one typically used by the FBI, which Sheriff’s Department investigators identified as the source of the errant bullet. After the incident, the department closed the range, although an official said other ranges at the Castaic facility are still in use. Last year, the Sheriff’s Department also shut down its network of mobile range trailers after

“The Dudleys never say die” — and neither do the fans of “My Lady Jane.” Fans of the Prime Video series have rallied behind an online campaign petitioning to save the historical dramedy from cancellation. Prime Video announced on Aug. 16 that it would not renew “My Lady Jane” for a second season after the show failed to attract a wide audience or make Nielsen’s Top 10 weekly streaming rankings for originals, according to Deadline. Representatives for Amazon Studios didn’t reply immediately Friday to The Times’ request for comment. After the announcement, fans of the show expressed their disappointment on social media. “I’m so upset about this. Jane and Guildford deserved their s2. The cast deserved their s2. We had a tv show that had everything : comedy, romance, period drama, a talented cast. And it has its audience, they just don’t want to renew quality things.. #SaveMyLadyJane #MyLadyJane,” a fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I say this with a broken heart but #myladyjane you have been one of the best hyperfixations, i ever had and its so f— aggravating and horrendous that those

Judge Greg Mathis and his wife, Linda Yvette Mathis, are parting ways after almost four decades together. Linda Mathis filed for divorce from the “Judge Mathis” star Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. In the filing, she listed their date of separation as July 17 and noted that they have no minor children. She also applied for spousal support while asking that the court waive her husband’s right to request support from her. It is unclear whether the couple had a prenuptial agreement in place. She also requested that Greg Mathis cover her legal fees. Representatives for both parties did not reply immediately Friday to The Times’ request for comment. The college sweethearts wed in 1985, more than a decade before the premiere of “Judge Mathis,” which ran for 24 seasons from Sept. 13, 1999, to May 25, 2023. The arbitration-based reality court show was recognized in 2004 with the NAACP Image Award for outstanding news, talk or information series, and in 2018 scored a Daytime Emmy

Throughout his nearly four years in office, President Biden regularly consulted historians to measure his accomplishments against history, and did so again before stepping out of the presidential race. History will recognize among his many achievements his sweeping economic vision and legislative expertise, which quickly moved the country out of a pandemic recession, reduced wage inequality and created the longest period of full employment in more than 50 years. Biden also brought about the most significant pro-worker policies in decades . He revitalized agencies that have aggressively moved to clean our air and water of deadly contaminants like toxic “forever” chemicals . And with the narrowest margins in Congress, he secured the votes to enact the first major law to combat climate change in U.S. history, which has created 330,000 good, safe clean-energy jobs so far. Although Biden seems keenly attuned to his legacy, his foreign policy — like that of Lyndon B. Johnson before him — could forever haunt his record in history books and stain his standing among generations of Americans. Like America’s wars in Indochina, the bloody, nearly yearlong assault on Gaza

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is facing increasing pressure to resign amid a looming federal probe involving his daughter, a local nonprofit and more than $10 million in unaccounted taxpayer money. Do is in the last year of his second and last term as county supervisor, but calls for him to resign have increased after federal agents raided his and his daughter’s home Thursday, with the scandal now the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Among those asking him to step down is a former boss and mentor vying to take his seat at the end of his term. A fellow supervisor also urged Do to “consider” stepping down. “Orange County taxpayers have every right to be livid and demand justice,” said state Sen. Janet Nguyen, who represents the 36th District and is running for Do’s seat. “I call upon Andrew Do to immediately resign as Supervisor for the First District.” Do worked as Nguyen’s chief of staff when she was elected to the board in 2007. The two had a falling out in 2016, during Do’s campaign for the county seat. Vicente Sarmiento, who

Residents in Massachusetts towns urged to stay inside over mosquito-borne virus – CBS News Watch CBS News The risk of a dangerous virus spread by mosquitoes has four towns in Massachusetts urging residents to stay indoors after dark until at least October. According to a local report, the town says it doesn’t have the funds to spray away the potentially deadly pests. Tiffany Chan has details. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Justice Department alleges RealPage enabled price-fixing on rents – CBS News Watch CBS News The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a property management software provider, alleging it enabled collusion among landlords to inflate rents for millions of Americans. Jo Ling Kent has details. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Several people killed in knife attack at festival in Germany – CBS News Watch CBS News Multiple people were killed and several more wounded in a knife attack at a festival in the German city of Solingen. Holly Williams has the latest. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

A man who allegedly posed as a doctor and performed unlicensed cosmetic surgery on a woman in Los Angeles has been charged with assault and battery. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Cristian Perez Latorre on Friday. The 53-year-old faces felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious injury and six counts of practicing medicine without a certification. It’s also alleged that Latorre inflicted “great bodily injury” when he performed a surgery on a woman in July 2021, which led to infections and follow-up treatment caused by complications from the unlicensed procedure. Cristian Perez Latorre, 53, is shown in this undated mug shot provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Latorre was arrested on Thursday by the District Attorney’s Office’s Bureau of Investigation following an investigation by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. District Attorney George Gascón said Latorre’s actions deceived the public and brought into question the integrity of the health care system and providers. “When an individual masquerades as a doctor and performs medical procedures without a license, it not only endangers lives

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a windblown dust advisory through Sunday morning due to periods of high winds expected to blow in the San Gorgonio Pass area and Coachella Valley. The advisory is set to take effect at 5 p.m. Friday, lasting through 10 a.m. Sunday, according to the agency. Wind gusts up to 40 mph are expected in the San Gorgonio Pass. Windblown dust is expected to cause Air Quality Index (AQI) levels to reach a designation of “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” or more severe, the South Coast AQMD said. People who find themselves in areas directly impacted by high levels of windblown dust or ash were urged to limit exposure by remaining indoors with windows and doors closed and to avoid vigorous physical activity. People who remain inside were encouraged to run air conditioning or an air purifier if available and to avoid using whole house fans or swamp coolers that bring outside air inside. To minimize dust pollution, people in affected areas can stabilize loose soil outdoors and slow down if driving on dirt roads. Air quality can be

A wind-driven fire that started in an RV and jumped to vegetation alongside Interstate 10 in Banning Friday scorched 86 acres and prompted closures on the freeway before it was stopped. The non-injury blaze was reported just before 2 p.m. on westbound I-10 at the Ramsey Street exit, according to the California Highway Patrol. Multiple Riverside County Fire Department, Morongo Tribal Fire Department, Palm Springs Fire Department and other engine crews were sent to the location, encountering flames moving at a rapid rate to the east, in the direction of a Caltrans storage yard and tractor-trailer weight scales, where numerous propane tanks are stored, the CHP and county fire officials said. Cal Fire air tankers and water-dropping helicopters initiated runs on the brusher shortly before 3 p.m., aiding crews in establishing containment lines. As of 3:45 p.m., the fire’s forward rate of spread had been stopped and it was 50% contained, according to the fire department. There were no reports of damage to structures. CHP officers shut down the Ramsey exit ramp and the westbound slow lane for public safety, leading to a SigAlert because

How does a legendary band in the highly competitive field of norteño music celebrate three decades of non-stop hitmaking? Most would be perfectly content with a lavish anniversary tour across Mexico and the U.S., and that’s exactly what Intocable is doing. But the six musicians from Zapata, Texas, took an extra step: Earlier this year, they released “Modus Operandi,” Intocable’s most ambitious and adventurous album to date. “We never intended to appear daring or rebellious,” says Ricky Muñoz, the band’s singer and accordionist, when asked about the radical sound of the band’s latest effort. “The idea was to make an album that felt comfortable to us. Let’s enjoy the moment and free ourselves. Let’s make the kind of music that will please the inner children still living in our hearts.” It’s a blistering afternoon in downtown L.A., and Intocable is about to hold a press conference at the Grammy Museum, where the group will donate an accordion to the institution’s permanent collection. We’re in the lobby of a luxury hotel, steps away from the rooftop event, but in keeping with the humble ethos of most

Cal/OSHA has fined Disney $36,000 in connection with the death of Juan “Spike” Osorio, a lighting technician who fell through a faulty catwalk on the Studio City set of a Marvel TV series. The workplace safety agency issued the citations several months after Osorio plummeted 41 feet to his death behind the scenes of “Wonder Man” at Radford Studio Center, a spokesperson for Hollywood crew members union IATSE confirmed to The Times. Variety was first to report the news. Cal/OSHA also fined Radford Studio Center a total of $45,000. Representatives for Disney and Radford Studio Center did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment. According to Cal/OSHA’s investigation summary, Osorio and other crew members were handling lighting cable equipment that was hanging from suspended wooden platforms when a section of a catwalk collapsed underneath him. The report notes that a ledger supporting the catwalk was improperly installed, deteriorated and weakened “likely due to age, environmental conditions and repeated stress loads over many decades.” Osorio “forcefully impacted” the ground below and was pronounced dead by emergency responders shortly after the accident. The cause of death

The momentum of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign helped push the ratings for the Democratic National Convention past the Republican festivities for former President Trump. Nielsen data showed that Harris’ well-received acceptance speech was watched by 29 million viewers across 15 networks. The figure is 14% higher than for Trump’s speech, which scored 25.4 million viewers July 19. Harris also drew substantially more than the 24.6 million viewers who watched Joe Biden’s acceptance speech at the convention in 2020 and about the same as the 29.8 million viewers who tuned in to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Harris helped herself by keeping her speech to 37 minutes. Trump’s 90-minute-plus stem-winder went on well past midnight on the East Coast. The speech caps a successful week for the Democratic National Convention, which topped the audience for the GOP’s gathering every night this week. Harris being thrust to the top of the ticket after President Biden decided to end his reelection campaign on July 21 — one of the wildest political twists in U.S. history — has energized Democratic voters who were unhappy to have a rematch

Playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”) was appointed artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse last year, but the McCraney era really began on Thursday night with the opening of a muscular revival of “The Brothers Size” at the Geffen Playhouse’s intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. The play, part of the acclaimed trilogy “The Brother/Sister Plays,” launched McCraney’s meteoric rise in the American theater. McCraney was still a student at the Yale School of Drama when “The Brothers Size” was first produced. When I saw the play at the Public Theater in 2009 as part of the trilogy, I was keenly aware of being in the presence of a breakthrough talent. What stood out about all three plays (including “In the Red and Brown Water” and “Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet”) was the freedom of the playwriting voice — the mix of lyricism and raw realism, the musicality blending joy and pain and the playful theatricality that trusted the imaginations of theatergoers and turned stage directions into spoken-word poetry. But none of this would have had the impact were it not for the

Anyone who tuned in to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night expecting to watch Beyoncé make a surprise appearance onstage was likely disappointed to see former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta standing there instead, not a rhinestone to be found on his staid blue suit. For weeks, ever since Queen Bey gave Kamala Harris’ campaign permission to use her stirring anthem “Freedom” as its theme song, speculation had mounted that she would perform at the convention — and that maybe she would even team up with fellow pop supernova, Taylor Swift, to send a woman to the White House. On Thursday, the theories shifted into overdrive on social media, thanks largely to a single tweet from a random X user teasing a surprise appearance on the final night of the event. If the unchecked, unfounded Bey-Tay rumors now feel like a moment of virtual mass hysteria, it’s also easy to understand why so many of us got carried away with the showbiz wish-casting. The star power across the four nights of the Democratic National Convention was so potent, the mood so buoyant, it made

When the first part of Simone Biles’ Netflix docuseries aired last month, its ending was still unwritten. Now, the script is in. “Simone Biles: Rising” Part 2, premiering Oct. 25 on Netflix, will follow the most decorated gymnast of all time to the 2024 Paris Games, where her storied comeback culminated in Olympic gold, Netflix announced Wednesday. Netflix and Biles jointly promoted the docuseries’ final two episodes in a Wednesday Instagram reel spoofing the streaming platform’s show “Emily in Paris.” In the 20-second clip, the G.O.A.T. cheekily sips from a Champagne flute — Eiffel Tower in the background — and snacks on French pastries, quipping, “Ever since I moved to Paris, my life has been chaotic and dramatic and complicated.” Although the teaser was inspired by fiction, Biles’ sentiment holds truth. The first installment of “Simone Biles: Rising,” released July 17, pulled back the curtain on Biles’ widely criticized withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) after an episode of “the twisties” — a dangerous phenomenon in which gymnasts lose their perception of their body mid-air — led

Judge rules Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend caused her death, dismisses felony charges against ex-cops – CBS News Watch CBS News A federal judge has dismissed felony charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying the search warrant in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. The Justice Department had accused the officers, who were not present during the raid, of putting false information into the warrant. The judge also ruled that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker is the legal cause of her death because he fired the first shot. Walker has said he thought an intruder was entering the home. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

What to know about RealPage antitrust lawsuit – CBS News Watch CBS News The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against real estate software company RealPage Friday with federal regulators accusing the company of colluding with landlords to raise the rents on millions of Americans. CBS News senior business and technology correspondent Jo Ling Kent has more. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Will RFK Jr.’s supporters follow his endorsement and vote for Trump? – CBS News Watch CBS News Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday he’s suspending his independent presidential campaign and endorsing Donald Trump, but is it a given Trump will get votes from RFK’s supporters? CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has more. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On