Category Archives: Los Angeles

Half a million kids out of class as LA school workers strike for better pay

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Strike joined by teachers over better wages and increased staffing closes nation’s second-largest school system

Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles unified school district, accompanied by teachers, walked off the job on Tuesday over stalled contract talks for higher pay and better working conditions, shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system.

The strike, which is expected to last three days, upended the lives of more than 500,000 students and their families from schools in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, as bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teachers demanded more support at a time when educators in the city and elsewhere are struggling to afford to live where they work.

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Massachusetts man arrested for stabbing United Airlines flight attendant

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Francisco Severo Torres also attempted to open the aircraft’s emergency door and was taken into custody after the plane landed

A man on a plane flying from from Los Angeles to Boston has been arrested after stabbing a flight attendant and attempting to open the aircraft’s emergency door, the justice department has announced.

The Massachusetts man, Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was arrested at Boston Logan international airport after United Airlines flight 2609 landed and he was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants and using a dangerous weapon.

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‘Strongest snowstorm in years’ leaves Californians delighted and frozen

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The Hollywood sign was dusted in white as arctic air blew across the state, triggering blizzard warnings for the first time since 1989

Swaths of the Golden State were doused in white this week as a historic storm cast much of the US in a bitter chill – and forecasters say there’s more frosty weather in store.

The snowstorm hovering over the southern part of California could end up becoming one for the record books as typically balmy areas brace for a barrage of more blizzard conditions and blustery winds. Across the state this week, the snowline has already crept far downslope from its winter territory atop high-elevation peaks, dusting foothills and valleys closer to the coast, and even some beaches.

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Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 additional years for LA rape conviction

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Disgraced producer was previously convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year term

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 additional years in prison on Thursday, three months after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles.

The disgraced film producer, whose pattern of predatory behavior galvanized the #MeToo movement, was previously convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in 2020 and is currently serving a 23-year prison term. The new sentence nearly doubles the 70-year-old producer’s remaining prison time.

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Los Angeles Jewish community shaken after two alleged antisemitic shootings

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Suspect Jamie Tran was arrested in nearby Riverside county after two men were wounded in separate shootings last week

Los Angeles was left reeling after alleged antisemitic hate incidents in which two Jewish men were shot and wounded as they left synagogues in the city last week.

Law enforcement say that over the course of two days Jaime Tran, 28, shot two men who were wearing black coats and head coverings identifying their faith. Both men survived the shootings. Tran, who had a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct”, allegedly targeted the victims in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood because they were Jewish. He has been charged with federal hate crimes.

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Catholic bishop David O’Connell shot dead near Los Angeles

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Killing in Hacienda Heights being investigated as homicide, LA county sheriff’s department says

A Catholic bishop in southern California who was hailed as a “peacemaker” was shot and killed on Saturday blocks away from a church, stunning the Los Angeles religious community.

Detectives were investigating the death of Bishop David O’Connell as a homicide, the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department said.

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Celebrities and scientists mourn mountain lion P-22 at sold-out memorial

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City’s most famous feline was euthanized last year after being hit by vehicle, but his legacy lives on with a highway wildlife crossing

On a sunny Saturday in Los Angeles, a packed outdoor crowd of 6,000 people at the Greek Theater cried, sang and swayed together as they bid adieu to one of the city’s most treasured residents: a mountain lion known as P-22.

In a city more synonymous with billboards than biodiversity, an ageing bachelor puma made tracks into people’s hearts. When he was euthanized at the end of 2022 after being hit by a car, it stung.

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Monterey Park shooting suspect, 72, found dead of self-inflicted gunshot

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Motive for attack remains unclear as police identify gunman who killed at least 10 people at LA-area dance studio

The suspect in a deadly mass shooting at a Southern California dance studio on Saturday night died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday morning.

The motive for the attack, which left 10 people dead and at least 10 injured, is still under investigation, law enforcement officials said at a press briefing on Sunday evening.

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Monterey Park shooting: suspect dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say – as it happened

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Suspect in shooting at southern California dance studio identified as 72-year-old man

“It is important that we be there for them and to provide the support they need in a time of healing,” Henry Lo, mayor of Monterey Park, said of the victims and their families at Sunday morning’s press conference.

In addition to 10 fatalities, 10 other victims were injured in the shooting and their current conditions vary from “stable” to “critical,” police said.

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Ten dead in shooting after lunar new year festival near Los Angeles

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Deceased include five men and five women as police identify suspect as 72-year-old man who died of self-inflicted gunshot

Ten people were killed and at least 10 others hospitalized after a gunman opened fire in a ballroom dance studio on Saturday night in a city close to Los Angeles.

The mass shooting, one of California’s worst in recent memory, happened hours after a lunar new year festival that attracted tens of thousands of revelers in Monterey Park, a majority-Asian American city.

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Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing on Los Angeles rape conviction delayed

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Ex-film mogul faces up to 18 additional years in prison after being convicted of forcibly raping a woman in California

Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing on his second rape and sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles has been delayed until February, as his lawyers ask for a new trial.

Winstein, 70, faces up to 18 additional years in prison after being convicted of forcibly raping a woman in California in 2013. He is already serving a 23-year prison sentence after being convicted of rape and sexual assault charges in New York in 2020.

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Bruce’s Beach heirs to sell land back to Los Angeles county for $20m

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California had returned land seized from Willa and Charles Bruce in 1920 to their heirs last year as part of its reparations policy

A southern California beachfront property that was taken from a Black couple through eminent domain a century ago and returned to their heirs last year will be sold back to Los Angeles county for nearly $20m, officials said on Tuesday.

The sale comes as the state of California continues to consider sweeping financial reparations for the government’s treatment of Black Americans, including government confiscation of property, housing discrimination, over-policing and health disparities.

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Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles trial

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The downfall of the former movie magnate played out over a six-week trial that included testimony from Jennifer Siebel Newsom

A Los Angeles jury has found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault, five years after dozens of women spoke out against the Hollywood producer and galvanized the #MeToo movement.

After more than nine days of deliberation, the jury convicted Weinstein of three counts of rape and sexual assault against one woman, a European model and actor who testified anonymously as “Jane Doe 1”, while remaining divided on three other charges of rape and sexual assault by two other accusers, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California’s governor. Weinstein was also acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by a fourth woman.

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‘This really hurts’: LA’s celebrity mountain lion P-22 euthanized

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Experts and officials mourn cougar who became ‘an iconic ambassador for wildlife’ in the city

The reign of Los Angeles’s most famous mountain lion – hailed as an “ambassador for wildlife” in the city – has come to an end, after health and behavioral concerns led to P-22’s euthanization.

The cougar, who became another LA celebrity after making his home in the city a decade ago, “went to sleep” on Saturday morning, according to state wildlife officials.

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Examination reveals P-22, LA’s celebrity mountain lion, was probably hit by a car

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Wildlife experts assessed the big cat’s health and said he will not be released back into the wild, with euthanization also an option

The famous Hollywood-roaming mountain lion known as P-22 is drastically underweight and was probably struck and injured by a car, wildlife experts who conducted a health examination on the big cat said on Tuesday.

The male cougar, whose killing of a leashed dog has raised concerns about its behavior, probably will not be released back into the wild and could be sent to an animal sanctuary or euthanized, depending on its health, the California department of fish and wildlife said.

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‘Going through torture’: Megan Thee Stallion testifies against Tory Lanez

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Rapper takes stand in case against Canadian-born musician, emotionally recounting night when she was shot

Megan Thee Stallion delivered emotional testimony on Tuesday in the trial of Tory Lanez, the fellow musician and former friend who allegedly shot her following a party in Los Angeles.

The Texas-born rapper, whose real name is Megan Pete, shared the most in-depth account yet about the moment that led to the shooting in 2020. She described how the attack left her with constant pain in her feet and said the reliving the incident in the public eye had been “torture”.

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Los Angeles official involved in racism scandal caught fighting activist on video

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Kevin de León, who has resisted resigning after the debacle, was involved in an altercation in which he appears to push an organizer

Kevin de León, the embattled Los Angeles city council member involved in a racism scandal that threw city hall into upheaval, is facing criticism again after video footage captured him in a physical fight with an activist.

De León, who has resisted calls to resign, made his first in-person appearance at a council meeting in nearly two months on Friday. Hours later he was involved in an altercation at a holiday toy giveaway in which video appeared to show him shoving a local organizer.

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‘Signs of distress’: beloved P22 mountain lion to be captured after attacking dogs

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Los Angeles’ resident big cat will have his health assessed after recent attacks on two chihuahuas and roaming too close to homes

Los Angeles’s most famous mountain lion, known as P22, will be captured and studied in order to assess his health following recent attacks on two small dogs and close encounters with people near the park he calls home.

Wildlife officials made the announcement on Thursday and said in a statement that, following the evaluation, California department of fish and wildlife veterinarians and National Park Service biologists will determine the best next steps for the animal while also prioritizing the safety of the surrounding communities.

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US vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass

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The ceremony will be a nod to the barriers broken by the two most powerful women in California politics and beyond

US vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Karen Bass as Los Angeles mayor, marking the historic election of the first Black woman to lead the second largest city in the country.

The swearing-in ceremony on Sunday will bring together two elected leaders who have repeatedly broken barriers in California politics and beyond. In 2020, Harris became the first woman, first Black person and first Asian person to be US vice- president. In 2008, as a California state assemblymember, Bass became the first Black woman to serve as the speaker of any US state legislature; she was elected to represent Los Angeles in the US congress in 2010 and later became chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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