California Dolphin

On the morning before a mob attacked a pro-Palestinian student encampment at UCLA, campus Police Chief John Thomas assured university leadership that he could mobilize law enforcement “in minutes” — a miscalculation from the three hours it took to actually bring in enough officers to quell the violence, according to three sources. Days earlier, campus leadership had directed Thomas to create a safety plan that would protect the UCLA community after the encampment was put up last week and began drawing agitators, the sources said. The chief was told to spare no expense to bring in other UC police officers, offer overtime and hire as many private security officers needed to keep the peace. But Thomas did not provide a plan to senior UCLA leadership — even after he was again asked to provide one after skirmishes broke out between Israel supporters and pro-Palestinian advocates at dueling rallies Sunday. The account of Thomas’ actions leading up to the attack was provided by three sources who were not authorized to speak publicly. Thomas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UCLA also declined to

A jury is slated to be seated early next week for the trial of a trio accused in the slaying of a 64-year-old Anza man operating an illegal cannabis grow, where the defendants went to rob him. Jodi Lynn Miller, 48, of Rancho Cucamonga, James Max Robinson, 43, of San Bernardino and Jesse Robert Thurbush, 43, of Victorville allegedly killed James Cidney Brown in 2019. All three are charged with first-degree murder, burglary, false imprisonment and special-circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a burglary and killing during the commission of a robbery. Miller is additionally charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon began summoning prospective jurors to the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta earlier this week, and a panel is expected to be sworn in Monday or Tuesday. Miller and Robinson are being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, while Thurbush is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta. According to a defense brief filed by Robinson’s attorney last year, when he tried unsuccessfully to have

A judge held a pair of robbery suspects to answer at a preliminary hearing Friday. Los Angeles resident Cleopatra Tredai Jones and Hemet resident Mason Tyler Barron were arrested in July 2023 after allegedly robbing a jewelry story at the Palm Desert Mall. Deputies responded to the 72-800 block of Highway 111 around 5:15 p.m. that day to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to Sgt. Daniel Milbrandt of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “Deputies arrived and determined a jewelry store at the location had been robbed by four suspects shattering display cases with sledge hammers and glass-breaking tools,” Milbrandt wrote in a statement. “Witnesses saw the suspects enter a red sedan and deputies quickly located the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Monterey Avenue.” The suspects were apprehended after the sedan collided with another vehicle, according to Milbrandt. The vehicle stopped working due to the collision and the suspects allegedly fled in the area of Monterey Avenue and Dinah Shore Drive, where Jones, Barron and two juveniles were arrested. Jones and Barron were arraigned and pleaded

A Long Beach business owner is hoping the city will implement new safety measures after multiple vehicles have crashed into her store. Emily Yep owns Magnolia & Willow, an antique store in Long Beach, where three vehicles have crashed into her store over the past eight months. “It made a catastrophe inside,” Yep said to KTLA 5’s Jennifer McGgraw. “It’s almost all glass and pottery that was broken this time.” Yep says the City of Long Beach needs to do more to help protect her business. She fears for the safety of her employees and feels like it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt at her store. “The stress and anxiety that this has given me and my family is just unexplainable,” Yep said. The city has put temporary barriers outside her store, but that didn’t prevent the latest vehicle from damaging her business. “From her standpoint, the improvements need to happen now, and I agree,” said City of Long Beach employee Eric Lopez. “We’ve applied for a $20 million grant from the federal government, we just haven’t gotten the money yet.”

Protestors at the University of California, Riverside reached an agreement with school officials to end the pro-Palestinian campus occupation Friday night. The encampment began on April 29 as protestors occupied the area beside Bell Tower. The movement was led by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Protestors demanded the university disclose its investments and funding and that it should divest from companies and institutions that are “complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide” of Palestinians. There were also calls for UCR to sever ties with Israeli universities, including student exchange programs, according to the Press-Enterprise. A negotiation meeting took place on May 1 and a planned rally later that day drew several hundred participants to the campus. On Friday, campus leaders and demonstrators successfully reached an agreement to end the encampment no later than Friday, May 3, by midnight, according to UCR officials. The University of California, Riverside campus with the Bell Tower seen in Riverside, California. (Getty Images) “I am pleased to share that we have reached an agreement that will result in the peaceful conclusion of the encampment,” said

By Steve Hartman May 3, 2024 / 8:50 PM EDT / CBS News Boy rewarded after giving away his only dollar Louisiana boy receives surprising reward after generously giving away his only dollar 02:52 Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Matt Busbice and his partners have built and sold several outdoor companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But Busbice, the 42-year-old owner of sporting goods store BuckFeather in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he has never felt richer than he did the day he received a single dollar. “I haven’t had that much faith in humanity in a very long time,” Busbice said. He says it all began about a month ago. It was early morning, and the fire alarm was going off inside his condo complex. So, Busbice shot out of bed and raced down the stairs only to discover there was no fire. But he was awake now, so even though he was wearing mismatched clothes and was disheveled, he decided to go out for a cup of coffee. As he was about to enter the coffee shop, he remembered he hadn’t done his morning

A teacher accused of sexual abuse of a child was found dead this week at Point Reyes National Seashore. (Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) May 3, 2024 5:22 PM PT A Mill Valley music teacher who was arrested this week on suspicion of sexual abuse was found dead the next day off the Point Reyes National Seashore, according to officials. Darren Smith, 55, who was a Mill Valley School District employee for more than 10 years, was booked Tuesday on suspicion of lewd acts with a child and continuous sexual abuse of a child, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office told the San Francisco Chronicle . It was unclear Friday when Smith was released from the Marin County jail. On Wednesday, Smith’s body was found in the ocean after bystanders reported that a surfer had been washed out. Bystanders called 911 at 2:36 p.m. upon finding a surfboard on the beach and being unable to locate its owner, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Rescuers found the body around 5:30 p.m. about 2.5 miles northwest of the Drakes Beach parking area. Smith was

Kristina Bialkowski remembers the day she got her first guitar at the Sam Ash Music Store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. She was 10 and her father, who had started teaching her to play the instrument, took her into the shop down the street from their home to browse. Now a musician who sometimes plays alongside the singer Geia, Bialkowski recalled staring up at the menagerie of instruments on the wall and feeling elated when she made her choice: a black, electric Fender. She returned through the years to buy a synthesizer and a bass and, in high school, to hang out with friends, so she felt stunned recently when she drove by and saw a sign announcing that the shop — along with all the other locations in the iconic music chain that grew from a single store in Brooklyn into a nationwide business behemoth — would soon close down. “No way!” thought Bialkowski, 29, who works in music marketing and also posts covers of songs on Instagram and TikTok. But then she thought back to her recent trips to the shop and how

Louisiana boy receives surprising reward after generously giving away his only dollar – CBS News Watch CBS News Nine-year-old Kelvin Ellis Jr. of Louisiana had just received a dollar for good grades, the only dollar to his name. When he chose to give it away to a man he thought was homeless, he received a surprising reward. Steve Hartman has the story in “On the Road.” Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Biden awards Medal of Freedom to 19 people – CBS News Watch CBS News President Biden Friday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore and Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky. Weijia Jiang reports. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On