Two arrested in connection with vandalism in abandoned home owned by the son of Philadelphia Phillies co-owner
Two people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with vandalism in an abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the son of a Philadelphia Phillies co-owner.
John Powers Middleton, a film producer, owns a property that has long been left vacant and become a popular target for graffiti artists and squatters.
Continue reading...Researchers find two sites with fossils including saber-toothed salmon and megalodon, the huge prehistoric shark
Marine fossils dating back to as early as 8.7m years ago have been uncovered beneath a south Los Angeles high school.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported that researchers had discovered two sites on the campus of San Pedro high school under which fossils including those of a saber-toothed salmon and a megalodon, the gigantic prehistoric shark, were buried.
Continue reading...Several blazes ravage state after record-breaking heatwave last week with temperatures topping 100F
As least 13 people have been injured in three major southern California wildfires that broke out this week during a scorching heatwave. Firefighters battling the blazes, already stretched to the limits by a challenging summer, were among the injured.
The Bridge fire in the Angeles national forest, located north of Glendora, exploded from about 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) on Tuesday to 34,000 acres that evening, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading...Mark Chavez, 54, to turn over medical license as lawyer says client is ‘incredibly remorseful’ for role in star’s death
One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death made his first appearance in a federal court in Los Angeles on Friday after reaching a deal to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.
Dr Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this month to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. He is the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the Friends star’s fatal overdose last year.
Continue reading...Mark Geragos says special counsel guilty of ‘character assassination’ by trying to bring salacious details into trial
An attorney for Hunter Biden has accused prosecutors of wanting to introduce salacious details about partying and spending by Joe Biden’s son to smear his character in front of jurors at his upcoming trial on federal tax charges.
During a lengthy hearing in Los Angeles federal court, Hunter Biden’s lawyer said special counsel David Weiss’s team was intent on “character assassination” by seeking to bring in evidence of spending on things like strippers in the case alleging a scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4m in taxes.
Continue reading...General Hospital star, 37, was shot dead in downtown LA in May after interrupting men taking car’s catalytic converter
Police have arrested four suspects in the fatal shooting of Johnny Wactor, the actor best known for his role on General Hospital.
The four suspects were arrested in Los Angeles, and range in age from 18 to 22. Three of the suspects were booked on arrest warrants for murder and the fourth was booked as an accessory.
Continue reading...Two men charged with robbing luxury watch had firearm of Christopher Dorner, who killed four people and died in 2013
Authorities are investigating how a gun registered to an infamous Los Angeles police officer ended up at the Airbnb of two men recently charged in the robbery of a $1m watch in Beverly Hills.
Investigators discovered the weapon earlier this month after they connected the Airbnb to a vehicle involved in another Beverly Hills theft, authorities said. The weapon was registered to Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police department (LAPD) officer who killed the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance as well as two others over nine days in 2013 before dying in a dramatic standoff with law enforcement. Dorner had felt he had been wrongly fired by LAPD, and accused the department of racism and corruption.
Continue reading...William Suff, convicted of 12 murders in 1995, admits killing Cathy Small, then aged 19, after police find genetic link
The long-unsolved 1986 killing of a young southern California woman has been linked to a convicted serial killer who admitted the crime, authorities said on Tuesday.
DNA from the killing of Cathy Small, 19, matched William Suff, who was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1995 of 12 murders that occurred in Riverside county from 1989 to 1991, said Lt Patricia Thomas of Los Angeles county sheriff’s department.
Continue reading...Expanding public transportation and finding shelter for unhoused people are key elements of city’s planning
As the Olympics came to a close this weekend, stars gathered from Paris to Long Beach to help mark the end of this year’s events and usher in the 2028 games, which are set to take place in Los Angeles.
In a closing ceremony this weekend, the R&B artist HER sang the national anthem in Paris where Tom Cruise rappelled from the roof of the Stade de France and the actor, Simone Biles and the LA mayor, Karen Bass, took part in a flag hand-off. In southern California, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg performed on the beach.
Continue reading...Independent candidate falsely claimed to be state resident, judge says, invalidating documents he needs to be on ballot
A judge ruled Monday that independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr falsely claimed a New York residence on nominating petitions, invalidating the documents he needs to appear on the ballot in the state.
The ruling from Justice Christina Ryba after a short trial in state court is expected to be appealed. If upheld, it could open the door to challenges in other states where Kennedy used the address in New York City’s northern suburbs to gather signatures.
Continue reading...The birds, protected as an endangered species, will remain under zoo care for year and a half before being sent into wild
Nearly 20 new California condors will fly across the western sky after a record-setting hatching of baby birds this summer at the Los Angeles Zoo.
The zoo marked a record of 17 California condor chicks hatched during this year’s breeding season, with staff members preparing to set the birds into the harsh wild as they are currently protected as an endangered species.
Continue reading...Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, 72, who oversaw notorious Adra prison, detained at LAX on immigration fraud charges
A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where human rights officials say torture and abuse routinely took place has been arrested in Los Angeles, court documents show.
Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, 72, was taken into custody last week at Los Angeles international airport on immigration fraud charges, specifically that he denied on his US visa and citizenship applications that he had ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint filed on 9 July. Investigators are considering additional charges, the complaint shows.
Continue reading...Josh Klinghoffer, who is touring with Pearl Jam, is being sued after allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian in a crash in Alhambra earlier this year
Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is being sued for wrongful death and negligence after allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Ashley Sanchez, the daughter of 47-year-old Israel Sanchez, who died after being hit while walking in a crosswalk in Alhambra, east of Los Angeles.
The collision happened the afternoon of 18 March, when plaintiffs allege Klinghoffer was driving a black SUV with no licence plates and turned left at an intersection with a marked crosswalk.
Video from the plaintiffs shows a black car hitting a man, who was Israel Sanchez, during the turn before pulling over. The footage was obtained from a neighbor’s Ring camera.
Israel Sanchez suffered blunt force trauma to the head and died from his injuries a few hours later at the hospital, the lawsuit said. No arrest was made in the incident.
The lawsuit also alleges Klinghoffer was using a cellphone while driving, as video footage shows the driver holding an object above the steering wheel. Video also shows a 40-foot-wide grassy median dividing the road that should have given Klinghoffer time to see pedestrians in the crosswalk, the lawsuit said.
“My dad was known for being a great chef, the most talented of his family, the greatest grandpa always full of love and joy,” Ashley Sanchez said in a news release. “His smile was so infectious. His life was taken by a careless act of a person who didn’t bother to look where he was driving.”
Frontman, who spoke before about substance addiction, said to have taken mix of pharmaceutical and street drugs
The US singer Seth Binzer, whose rap-rock band Crazy Town became a No 1 hit with 2001’s Butterfly, died as a result of an accidental drug overdose, his group’s manager told the Guardian on Friday.
Crazy Town manager Howie Hubberman said the death on Monday of the musician known as Shifty Shellshock occurred after he ingested an unintentionally lethal combination of pharmaceutical and street drugs, though the medical examiner in the vocalist’s home town of Los Angeles had not yet provided details on an official cause or manner of death.
Continue reading...Court filing details how the King of Pop was in financial straits as he was preparing to embark on his This Is It tour
Michael Jackson had accumulated more than half a billion dollars of debt when he died in 2009, new court documents reveal.
A 21 June court filing by the executors of his estate provided some of the most complete details yet about the strained finances with which the 13-time Grammy winner was grappling at the time of his death.
Continue reading...Pro-Palestinian protesters accuse companies of trying to sell stolen land in the West Bank, and question legality
Efforts to market homes in Israel and stolen land in West Bank to Jewish Americans are continuing to spark protests across North America, with the latest angry confrontations happening outside a synagogue in one of Los Angeles’s most prominent Jewish neighborhoods.
The volatile protest and counter-protest outside a real estate event at the Adas Torah synagogue on Sunday prompted denunciations from Democratic politicians, including Joe Biden, who said protests targeting a house of worship were antisemitic and unacceptable.
Continue reading...Iatse union agrees tentative three-year deal with Disney, Netflix and others over pay, AI protections and residuals
The union that represents film and television crews has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios that will stave off a major strike – a welcome development after the industry saw significant labor turmoil last year.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Iatse) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced on Tuesday they had a tentative three-year agreement that will affect about 50,000 crew members.
Continue reading...Measure passes 5-2 as Gavin Newsom calls for statewide ban on cellphones for students during the school day
The Los Angeles unified school board passed a resolution on Tuesday banning cell phones from district classrooms. As the second-largest school district in the US, the vote makes it the largest school district in the US to approve such a ban.
As more educators across the US explore similar policies, California governor Gavin Newsom called on Tuesday for a statewide ban on phones in class. The measure in Los Angeles was introduced by board member Nick Melvoin and will be implemented starting in January 2025 after passing in a 5-2 vote. Melvoin said in a statement the measure is meant to support “students’ academic success and wellbeing”, adding that studies have shown smartphones and social media distract kids from learning and stifle their in-person social connections.
Continue reading...Dr Julio Frenk to succeed Gene Block amid scrutiny of university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests
The president of the University of Miami was chosen Wednesday to become the next chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, where the retiring incumbent has faced widespread scrutiny over his handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Dr Julio Frenk, a Mexico City-born global public health researcher, was selected by regents of the University of California system at a meeting on the UCLA campus, where there was a swarm of security officers.
Continue reading...Reverend, pastor and professor, who was a close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr, dies in Los Angeles after short illness
The Rev James Lawson Jr, an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the civil rights movement gained traction, has died, his family said on Monday. He was 95.
His family said Lawson died on Sunday after a short illness in Los Angeles, where he spent decades working as a pastor, labor movement organizer and university professor.
Continue reading...