Category Archives: Los Angeles

Investigators identify ‘person of interest’ in LA freeway arson

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California state officials seek public’s help in identifying person shown in two photos posted to social media

Investigators on Saturday identified a “person of interest” in the Los Angeles arson fire last week that closed a central freeway for days, snarling traffic as repair crews continue to work around the clock to fix it.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, and the state fire marshal released two photos in a “crime alert notification” posted to social media and said it was seeking the public’s help to identify the person.

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‘Disgusted and horrified’: protesters in LA stage sit-in urging for Gaza ceasefire

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More than 1,000 people gather in the rain, shutting down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard

Hundreds of demonstrators in Los Angeles shut down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon in a protest demanding Joe Biden and US lawmakers call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In the heart of Hollywood, along the palm tree-lined streets near Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and the Walk of Fame, protesters waved Palestinian flags and held signs – “not in our name” and “let Gaza live”. More than 1,000 people gathered in the rain, including a group that staged a sit-in at the intersection with flowers in hand and shirts reading “Jews say ceasefire now” as tourists watched.

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‘Disrupting in every way’: LA faces chaotic commutes after interstate fire

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Hazardous materials teams clear burned material from underneath Interstate 10 as crews assess damage

Arson was likely the cause of a raging fire over the weekend that has closed a mile-long stretch of the I-10, a major elevated interstate highway near downtown, the California governor said on Monday.

The California department of forestry and fire protection fire marshal made a preliminary determination that the fire was set intentionally, Gavin Newsom said during a press conference at the fire site. He said investigators have received some tips from witnesses but did not say if there were any suspects or persons of interest.

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Contract for Hollywood actors includes $40m yearly in streaming bonuses

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Union leaders on Friday shared details of three-year contract, on AI, wage increases and end to racist hair and makeup practices

Streaming services like Netflix will pay actors bonuses amounting to roughly $40m per year as part of the tentative labor agreement reached between the SAG-AFTRA actors union and major Hollywood studios, union leaders said on Friday after their board backed the deal.

The proposed three-year contract, which the union said was valued at more than $1bn over three years, was endorsed by 86% of SAG-AFTRA’s national board.

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Son of top Hollywood agent in custody after woman’s torso found in dumpster

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Sam Haskell, whose father represented Dolly Parton and George Clooney, suspected of murder of wife and her parents in LA

The 35-year-old son of a Hollywood talent agent whose clients included Dolly Parton, George Clooney and a British prince, has been taken into custody in Los Angeles after a bloody torso authorities say probably belongs to his wife was discovered in a strip-mall dumpster.

Sam Haskell, who was booked on suspicion of murder on Wednesday, is also suspected of killing his wife’s parents who are missing, detectives have said.

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Matthew Perry buried in service attended by family and Friends costars

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Mourners were gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the actor

Actor Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at age 54, was buried on Friday at a Los Angeles cemetery in a service attended by relatives and castmates from the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends, show business media reported, citing photographs.

Mourners gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, less than a mile from the Warner Bros studio where the show was filmed. It is also the final resting place of numerous Hollywood A-listers including Michael Jackson, Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor.

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Prominent US figures face backlash and firings for pro-Palestinian statements

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From magazine editors to Hollywood agents, supporters of Palestinians experiencing widespread rebuke

A rising number of prominent US figures have faced discipline over controversial public comments they have made about the Palestinian cause, as attacks by Israel on Gaza after the 7 October massacre of Israelis by Hamas fighters intensified.

David Velasco, the editor in chief of Artforum magazine, was reportedly fired after the magazine published an open letter in response to the war.

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Piper Laurie, Oscar nominee for Carrie and The Hustler, dies at 91

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The actor, who left acting in 1955 and finally returned to play mother to Sissy Spacek, died of old age, her manager said

Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a “more meaningful” life, died early Saturday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Laurie died of old age, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, told the Associated Press via email, adding that she was “a superb talent and a wonderful human being”.

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‘Exceptional’: Hollywood writers hail tentative deal to end strike

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Writers Guild of America says agreement on pay and conditions ‘due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power’

The tentative deal reached between Hollywood and studio executives has been received well by those on strike and others within the industry.

Members from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who took on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with demands that included better pay and residuals, and safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence, shared their collective relief.

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Demolition of Marilyn Monroe’s house halted after widespread outrage

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Los Angeles officials intervened to block the tearing down of the property and are considering it for historic preservation

The final home of Marilyn Monroe – and the only residence she ever owned independently – will remain standing for now after Los Angeles officials intervened to block the property’s demolition.

The news that the new owners of 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, where Monroe died at age 36, filed for demolition permits had attracted widespread outrage. Los Angeles city councilwoman Traci Park said she received hundreds of calls urging her to save the Spanish colonial-style house in the city’s Brentwood neighborhood.

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Actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape

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The actor, 47, who has been in custody since May, was found guilty of raping two women two decades ago

Actor Danny Masterson, who starred in That 70s Show, was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for the rapes of two women two decades ago.

Los Angeles superior court judge Charlaine F Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women about the trauma and suffering they experienced.

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‘Out of reach’: median home price in Los Angeles nears $1m

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House prices have increased more than 30% in five years in the state’s largest city, which has at least 50,000 people living outside

The median price for a home in Los Angeles, California’s largest city, will soon hit $1m, as skyrocketing housing costs fuel a humanitarian crisis that has left at least 50,000 people living in the streets.

In the past five years, the median listed home price in the Los Angeles area has increased more than 30%, according to estimates from the real estate company Zillow. As of late July, the median price for homes in the Los Angeles metropolitan area was estimated at $992,300.

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Tyrese Gibson sues Home Depot for $1m over alleged racial discrimination

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Fast & Furious actor claims staffers at hardware store discriminated against him and two of his workers

The US actor and singer Tyrese Gibson is demanding more than $1m from Home Depot after he says staffers at one of the American hardware giant’s stores racially discriminated against him and two of his workers.

Gibson’s lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday, recounts how he and two men who regularly provide construction services for the Fast & Furious actor went to a Home Depot in West Hills, California, on 11 February to buy some materials for a building project at the entertainer’s home.

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Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

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Canadian musician was found guilty last year for three felonies related to the shooting which injured the rapper in the foot

Musician Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for the shooting of fellow artist Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty in December 2022 of three felonies related to the shooting, which left his fellow artist injured in the foot.

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White supremacist Robert Rundo extradited from Romania to US to face charges

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Rise Above Movement co-founder to face charges in Los Angeles in relation to violent clashes with anti-fascist protesters in 2017

Robert Rundo, the influential American neo-Nazi and co-founder of the now-defunct Rise Above Movement, is to face charges in Los Angeles in relation to violent clashes with anti-fascist protesters in 2017.

Rundo was extradited from Romania to the US on Tuesday, after being apprehended in a Bucharest gym in late March on an American warrant.

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Fifth bus of asylum seekers arrives in Los Angeles from Texas

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Bus was carrying 44 people hailing from Colombia, China, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, including 14 children

A fifth bus of asylum seekers from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday as part of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s plans to transport migrants away from Texas.

On Saturday, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass’s office announced that the bus – the fifth one to arrive in the city since 14 June – arrived at around 11.30am at Union Station.

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He’s unimpressed with his physique, but wins bodybuilding competitions … at 90

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Jim Arrington, who was recognized as the planet’s oldest bodybuilder in 2015, explains how a ‘low opinion’ motivated him

Like many in the US who are grappling with pressure to look better, Jim Arrington is unimpressed with his physique – but he says that self-perception has motivated him to keep winning bodybuilding competitions at age 90.

The nonagenarian great-grandfather spoke about how he has achieved a level of physical fitness which is superior to that of many people more than half his age in an interview published on Wednesday by Guinness World Records, which first recognized him as the planet’s oldest bodybuilder in 2015.

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Hollywood actors announce strike in first joint action with writers in over 60 years

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Simultaneous strikes by WGA and Sag-Aftra are expected to halt the majority of Hollywood’s film and TV production

The union representing Hollywood actors formally announced a strike on Thursday, expanding the standoff between Hollywood workers and studio executives over wages, AI technology and how to divide the profits of the new digital streaming era.

The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) marks the first time in 63 years Hollywood writers and actors are striking simultaneously.

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LA sheriff’s office under scrutiny after deputy punches mother holding baby

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Officer is seen hitting woman twice in face as she holds her baby in video released by LA county sheriff Robert Luna

For the second time in a week, the Los Angeles sheriff’s department is facing scrutiny over a brutal force incident, this time after a deputy was caught on camera punching a mother twice in the face as she held her newborn baby.

The LA county sheriff, Robert Luna, on Wednesday released footage of the July 2022 incident in Palmdale, north-east of the city of Los Angeles.

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Bottoms up: pilot escapes with minor injuries after plane plunges into hangar

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A Cessna 172 nosedived into a roof with its tail sticking straight up after a landing and takeoff practice went wrong

A pilot escaped with only minor injuries after a single-engine plane nose dived into the roof of a hangar Monday at a southern California airport, authorities said.

The crash happened around 2.30pm while the pilot of the Cessna 172 was “practicing landings and takeoffs” at Long Beach airport, south of Los Angeles, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

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