Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 34
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, and that was fanned by fierce wind gusts that began easing Friday, allowing some people to return to sort through the charred remains of their homes. Joey Parish returned to the site of his former home of more than 20 years in Camarillo Heights. All that was left was part of the burned-out steel frame. "It's tough, it's really tough to know how to process the emotions," he told KNBC-TV late Thursday. He h...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 U.S. visa and citizenship applications that he had ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint filed on July 9. Investigators are considering additional charges,...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. will persist, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that will soar into the 100s and holding the East in its hot and humid grip throughout the week, forecasters said Sunday. An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service's highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, said NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest were expec...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scott Peterson appeared virtually in court on Tuesday, nearly 20 years after he was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, as his lawyers with the Los Angeles Innocence Project asked a judge to order new DNA tests and allow their investigators to access evidence connected with a burglary across the street from the couple's California home. Peterson was sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty of murder in the deaths of Laci and the unborn child they planned to name Conner. Prosecutors said he killed Laci and d...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten walked out of a California prison Tuesday after serving more than 50 years of a life sentence for her participation in two infamous murders. Van Houten "was released to parole supervision," the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. She left the California Institution for Women in Corona, east of Los Angeles, in the early morning hours and was driven to transitional housing, her attorney Nancy Tetreault said. "She's still trying to get used to t...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her and another woman at his home in 1969 sued him Thursday under a new California law that suspends the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims. In her lawsuit, Victoria Valentino, 80, says she was an actress and singer 54 years ago, when she met Cosby, now 85. The comedian and actor later approached her at a Los Angeles café, where he spotted her crying over the recent drowning death of her 6-year-old son. The Associated Press does not id...
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting one person and wounding five others at a Southern California church luncheon last year has been charged with dozens of federal hate crimes in connection with the attack, which investigators said was motivated by political hatred of Taiwan. The indictment announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice charges David Chou, of Las Vegas, with 98 counts including weapons and explosives charges and forcefully obstructing the free exercise of religion. Messages seeking comment from a...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Storm-ravaged California scrambled to clean up and repair widespread damage on Wednesday as the lashing rain eased in many areas, although thunderstorms led a new atmospheric river into the northern half of the state. The plume of moisture lurking off the coast stretched all the way over the Pacific to Hawaii, making it "a true Pineapple Express," the National Weather Service said. The latest rains were expected to impact only Northern California, giving the south a break until more wet weather arrives by the weekend. At l...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 14-year-old girl who was killed by Los Angeles police last week — she was struck while hiding in a dressing room as an officer was aiming rifle rounds at a man suspected of assaulting customers at a clothing store and a bullet went through a wall — loved skateboarding and had dreams of becoming an engineer to build robots, her family said Tuesday. Valentina Orellana-Peralta died in her mother's arms last Thursday at a Burlington store in the North Hollywood neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Soledad Peralta, durin...
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Crews on the water and on shore worked feverishly Sunday to limit environmental damage from one of the largest oil spills in recent California history, caused by a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline that fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and could keep the beaches there closed for weeks or longer. Booms were deployed on the ocean surface to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to k...
Thick smoke that held down winds and temperatures in the zone of the largest single wildfire in California history cleared Monday from scenic forestlands, allowing firefighting aircraft to rejoin the battle to contain the massive Dixie Fire. The newly clear skies will allow more than two dozen helicopters and two air tankers that have been grounded to fly again and make it safer for ground crews to maneuver. "With this kind of weather, fire activity will pick up. But the good thing is we can get aircraft up," said fire spokesman Ryan Bain....
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of wildfires burned across the torrid U.S. West on Monday but fire agencies reported some progress in corralling the flames and forecasters predicted a gradual decrease in extreme temperatures. The fires have forced evacuations in numerous areas with dispersed properties and tiny communities where some burned homes and other structures have been observed but total losses were still being tallied. The fires erupted as the West was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks, a...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A smoky wildfire churning through a Los Angeles canyon community gained strength Sunday as about a thousand residents remained under evacuation orders while others were warned they should get ready to leave, authorities said. Cool, moist weather early in the day gave firefighters a break, but by afternoon flames starting moving again in steep terrain where tinder-dry vegetation hasn't burned in a half-century, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. "We're definitely seeing increased fire activity," said department s...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With a cough and shortness of breath, it took Austin, Texas, resident Sam Lee three tries to get a COVID-19 test. The first time, he showed up an hour before the public testing site was set to close and was told they had reached capacity. He was turned away from a second center when rain shut it down, and voluntarily left a third after someone ahead of him said they had been waiting in line for more than three hours. "If you have symptoms and you are just driving around the city trying to figure out how you can get a t...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California sheriff's deputy was shot in the head but survived an "ambush" by a gunman intent on harming or killing police and authorities said Wednesday they were investigating whether there was a connection to two recent deadly attacks on officers. After wounding the San Luis Obispo County deputy in the small city of Paso Robles, police believe the shooter killed a transient and then eluded an intense manhunt. Police sought the public's help and released photos from surveillance video showing the suspect — a young dar...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As the U.S. death toll from the new coronavirus reached at least 21, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought Sunday to reassure the public that none of the passengers from a ship carrying people with the virus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine. The Grand Princess carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries is expected to dock Monday in Oakland, in the east San Francisco Bay, and was idling off the coast Sunday as officials prepared a port site. Those needing a...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wildfire raged out of control along the northern edge of Los Angeles early Friday, forcing thousands of people from their homes as firefighters battled flames from the air and on the ground. The blaze erupted late Thursday along the northern tier of the San Fernando Valley as powerful Santa Ana winds swept Southern California, fanning several destructive blazes. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire had grown to more than 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers) before dawn and an estimated 12,700 homes were under e...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that a twin son of a gay married couple has been an American citizen since birth, handing a defeat to the U.S. government, which had only granted the status to his brother. The State Department was wrong to deny citizenship to 2-year-old Ethan Dvash-Banks because U.S. law does not require a child to show a biological relationship with their parents if their parents were married at the time of their birth, District Judge John F. Walter found. A lawsuit filed by the boys' parents, A...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California panel on Wednesday recommended that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be paroled after serving more than four decades in prison. After a hearing at the women's prison in Corona, California, commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings found for the third time that the 69-year-old Van Houten was suitable for release. If her case withstands a 150-day review process, it will rest in the hands of California's new Gov. Gavin Newsom. Van Houten was recommended for parole twice previously, but then-Gov. J...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say they have arrested a fourth member of a white supremacist group on charges of inciting violence at California protests and at last year's deadly riot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The FBI said in a Tweet on Sunday that 38-year-old Aaron Eason surrendered himself. He has an initial court appearance Monday. Prosecutors say the group's leader and two other members were arrested Wednesday. All four are charged with traveling to incite or participate in riots. Rise Above Movement leader Robert Rundo, Robert B...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Massachusetts college student who was named his high school's valedictorian for his savvy tech skills hacked into unsuspecting investors' personal cellphones, email and social media accounts to steal at least $2 million in digital currency like Bitcoin, according to documents provided by California prosecutors Wednesday. Joel Ortiz was taken into custody July 12 at Los Angeles International Airport ahead of a flight to Boston, according to prosecutors. The 20-year-old faces more than two dozen charges including grand t...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The heart of Yosemite National Park, where throngs of tourists are awe-struck by cascading waterfalls and towering granite features like El Capitan and Half Dome, will be closed as firefighters try to corral a huge wildfire just to the west that has cast a smoky pall and threatened the park's forest, officials said Tuesday. Yosemite Valley will be closed for at least four days beginning at noon Wednesday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of State Route 41, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. At...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California greenhouse gas emissions fell below 1990 levels, meeting an early target years ahead of schedule and putting the state well on its way toward reaching long-term goals to fight climate change, officials said Wednesday. The California Air Resources Board announced pollution levels were down 13 percent since their 2004 peak — as the economy grew 26 percent since that year. The achievement was roughly equal to taking 12 million cars off the road or saving 6 billion gallons (22.7 billion liters) of gasoline a year, the...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California utilities will invest nearly $768 million to expand a network of charging stations and build other infrastructure for electric vehicles as the state moves toward a goal of 5 million zero-emission cars on the roads by 2030. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to pay for programs statewide over the next five years, with an emphasis on establishing facilities in disadvantaged communities where traffic and air pollution are often heaviest. The funding includes $136 million by San Diego Gas &...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors in California and Florida sued on Wednesday to stop two companies from providing stem cell treatments, alleging the clinics marketed their procedures as remedies for ailments including cancer and heart disease without proof of safety and efficacy. The firms put consumers at risk by promising benefits from treatments and products never approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Justice Department alleged in court filings in both states. The complaints involve cells taken from patients' own fat t...
