Category Archives: Los Angeles

Hypothermia deaths of unhoused people rise sharply in Los Angeles, records reveal

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Data obtained by the Guardian shows at least 14 unhoused people froze to death in 2021, part of an overall surge in homeless deaths

At least 14 unhoused people froze to death on the streets of Los Angeles in 2021, new county data reveals, marking a sharp increase in reports of hypothermia fatalities and a grim sign of how dire the region’s homelessness catastrophe has become.

Out of 14 deaths where the LA coroner’s office cited “cold exposure” and hypothermia last year, six victims died on sidewalks, according to public records obtained by the Guardian. Four died in hospitals, and the others were found at a bus bench, a parking lot, a dried-up riverbed and an abandoned building. The death toll is significantly higher than previous years, with six reported hypothermia deaths in 2020, nine in 2019, seven in 2018 and three in 2017.

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Hollywood high school student dies after taking fentanyl-laced pill in apparent string of overdoses

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Death at Bernstein high school comes as new data shows 200 people dying a day of fentanyl overdoses

A teenage girl at a Hollywood high school died on Tuesday and another was hospitalized, after taking what police believe were counterfeit pills filled with fentanyl.

The incident, which is being investigated as a homicide by Los Angeles police, comes as federal officials announced new national counts of overdose deaths, showing nearly 200 people in the US are dying each day due to overdoses of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

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Los Angeles county is home to more than 69,000 unhoused people, count finds

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Number marks 4% increase since last count, in January 2020, but is believed to be an undercount

Los Angeles has experienced a 4% increase in its homeless population during the pandemic, with 69,144 unhoused people counted across the county this year, according to government data released on Thursday.

The Los Angeles homeless services authority (Lahsa), which conducted the count in February 2022 after skipping a year during the pandemic, said the growth of the unhoused population had slowed in the last two years, in part due to pandemic programs and funding. The previous count, conducted in January 2020, showed a 13% jump from 2019.

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Anne Heche was trapped in burning house for 45 minutes after crash

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Firefighters battled flames and smoke to extract Hollywood actor after her car crashed into building in Los Angeles last month

First responders could not reach Anne Heche to begin treating the actor as she was trapped, mortally injured, for 45 minutes after her car crashed into a house in Los Angeles last month, according to a report.

Amid appalling flames and smoke from the crash, firefighters could not reach the car for 20 minutes and then couldn’t get it out of the building to extract her for at least another 20 minutes, NBC reported, citing fire department documents and radio communications.

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Leon Vitali, Stanley Kubrick collaborator and Barry Lyndon actor, dies aged 74

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Vitali, who gave up acting to become the demanding director’s right-hand man, died in Los Angeles on Friday


Leon Vitali, the Barry Lyndon actor who became one of Stanley Kubrick’s closest associates, has died at the age of 74.

Vitali died on Friday in Los Angeles, his family said on Sunday. He died peacefully surrounded by loved ones including his three children, Masha, Max and Vera.

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‘I live in fear’: Vanessa Bryant testifies at trial over Kobe’s crash images

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For three hours, Bryant provided testimony against Los Angeles county for invasion of privacy over photos of her husband’s corpse

Vanessa Bryant testified on Friday that she was only beginning to grieve the loss of her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna when she was faced with the fresh horror of learning that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters had shot and shared photos of their bodies at the site of the helicopter crash that killed them.

“I felt like I wanted to run, run down the block and scream,” she said, her tears turning to sobs and her voice quickening. “It was like the feeling of wanting to run down a pier and jump into the water. The problem is I can’t escape. I can’t escape my body.”

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California man found guilty of two 1980s murders thanks to new DNA technology

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In 2006 detectives discovered DNA evidence, but it was 12 more years before they could identify suspect using genealogy websites

Prosecutors in California secured the conviction of a 1980s double murderer after the first use by Los Angeles county detectives of online genealogical databases to identify a suspect.

Horace Van Vaultz, now 67, killed Selena Keough, 20, in Montclair in 1981, and Mary Duggan, 22, in Burbank in 1986, but escaped justice for 36 years until investigators were able to link him to DNA from the victims.

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Anne Heche’s death ruled accidental after fiery car crash

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The actor died of smoke inhalation and burns after her car smashed into a west Los Angeles home, coroner’s report says

Anne Heche died from inhalation injury and burns after her fiery car crash and the death was ruled an accident, according to coroner’s results released on Wednesday.

Heche, 53, also had a fractured sternum caused by “blunt trauma”, according to information on the website of the Los Angeles county medical examiner.

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Anne Heche ‘stable’ after suffering severe burns in Los Angeles car accident

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Fans and friends express support for Hollywood star who drove her car into house, which was left ‘uninhabitable’

Actor Anne Heche was “stable” in hospital amid a wave of support from fans and fellow stars following an accident in which she drove her car into a Los Angeles home, causing severe burn injuries to herself as well as damaging the house which has become “uninhabitable”.

As of Saturday, the Los Angeles police department (LAPD) said it was investigating the incident but had not determined its cause. The Los Angeles fire department (LAFD) said in a statement it took 59 firefighters to extinguish the fire.

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Actor Anne Heche reportedly in critical condition after car crash in Los Angeles

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Collision near the home of actor known for films including Donnie Brasco left her vehicle ‘engulfed in flames’

The US actor Anne Heche has reportedly been taken to hospital in a critical condition after a collision that left her vehicle “engulfed in flames”.

The incident occurred on Friday morning in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, near to Heche’s home.

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Shooting in Los Angeles park leaves at least two dead

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Seven people taken to hospital after gunfire erupts at informal car show in Peck Park in San Pedro area

At least two people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at a park in Los Angeles, officials said.

Seven people were taken to local hospitals after gunfire erupted at an informal car show at Peck Park in the San Pedro neighborhood on Sunday, the Los Angeles fire department said.

Two of them – a man and a woman – later died of their wounds, department spokesperson Brian Humphrey said.

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Roman Polanski rape case testimony can be unsealed, LA prosecutor says

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District attorney George Gascón says his office has asked to unseal transcripts in effort to re-examine case

The Los Angeles district attorney’s office will no longer object to the release of documents in the 45-year-old rape case against the film director Roman Polanski, the office said on Tuesday.

George Gascón, the Los Angeles DA, said his office had reversed its position and asked to unseal the transcripts of the testimony of the former deputy district attorney Roger Gunson as part of an effort to re-examine the case against the 88-year-old film-maker.

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‘Have you recently had an abortion?’ Australian transiting through US questioned then deported

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Madolline Gourley says she was on her way to Canada for a holiday when US immigration officials intervened

An Australian woman who planned to house-sit in Canada during a holiday has said she was detained, fingerprinted, interrogated about her abortion history and quickly deported during a stopover in the US.

Madolline Gourley, a Brisbane resident, says she was treated like a criminal during her transit through Los Angeles on 30 June, where she was detained at the border due to suspicions about her intention to house- and cat-sit in exchange for accommodation while holidaying in Canada.

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Fears of violence against pro-choice protests intensify amid wave of attacks

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Use of teargas and arrests by police and targeting by anti-abortion activists disrupts demonstrations in multiple states

Fears over police violence and attacks by anti-abortion activists have been growing following a wave of incidents at demonstrations against the US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which upheld the constitutional right to an abortion.

Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered at protests objecting to the ruling. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some have seen incidents of police violence – including attacks on protesters – and an incident of a car driving dangerously through marchers.

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Mexican megachurch leader jailed in US for more than 16 years for child sexual abuse

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La Luz del Mundo ‘apostle’ Naasón Joaquín García sentenced after admitting three abuse charges in Californian court

The leader of the Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young female followers.

Naasón Joaquín García, 53, pleaded guilty last week in Los Angeles superior court to three felonies on the eve of a long-awaited trial.

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High-stakes California races will decide LA mayor and San Francisco recall

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Analysts watch to see if voters in America’s more liberal cities will address police reform, homelessness and mass incarceration

High-stakes primary races taking place on Tuesday in California are expected to have major consequences for police reform, incarceration and the state’s growing homelessness crisis.

The most closely watched race is the mayor’s contest in Los Angeles, where voters are deciding between a tough-on-crime real estate developer, Rick Caruso, who has already poured nearly $40m of his own fortune into his primary campaign, and the former community organizer and Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass.

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Train to nowhere: can California’s high-speed rail project ever get back on track?

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Despite 14 years of work and about $5bn spent, the 2008 promise of quick transport between Los Angeles and San Francisco has not materialized

In the depths of the 2008 recession, Californians were sold on a beautiful dream: a bullet train that would whisk them between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.

The project was to be the start of a new era of high-speed rail that would eventually stretch the full length of the west coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, across the desert to Las Vegas, and, eventually, all across the continental United States.

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Sadiq Khan launches commission to examine cannabis legality

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Mayor of London says panel of experts will consider effectiveness of UK policies on non-class A drugs

Sadiq Khan has announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.

The London drugs commission, to be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former lord chancellor and justice secretary, was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his re-election bid last year.

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US to seize $63m Los Angeles mansion it claims was bought with bribe money

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The French Normandy-style estate was bought by Armenian ‘Super Minister’ Gagik Khachatryan with bribes paid by a businessman

The US government wants to seize a mega-mansion in an exclusive area of Los Angeles that it claims was bought with millions in bribe money linked to the former finance minister of Armenia and his sons.

The estate, located near the former Playboy mansion, was renovated in a French Normandy-style and boasts 11 bedrooms and 26 full or partial baths, and includes a pool, wine cellar, home theater and maids’ quarters, according to real estate listings.

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Dave Chappelle attacked by man with replica gun at LA comedy festival

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Incident raises further questions over comedian safety after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at Oscars

The comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked during a performance in Los Angeles, according to witnesses and videos of the incident posted online.

Footage showed someone running on stage and tackling Chappelle during his performance at the Netflix Is a Joke festival at Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night. The incident took place as the comedian was closing the show and thanking earlier performers including Chris Rock, Leslie Jones and Jon Stewart.

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