Author: Robert Jablon
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Police: Gang member kills 4 in random California stabbings
GARDEN GROVE, Calif.• The man who killed four people and wounded two in random stabbings across two Southern California cities is a gang member with a violent criminal record who had served time in prison, authorities said Thursday. Zachary Castaneda “could have injured or killed many other people” had he not been arrested Wednesday while…
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California wildfire now largest in state history
LOS ANGELES — A California wildfire that has killed two people and seared its way through cities, towns and wilderness northwest of Los Angeles became the largest blaze ever officially recorded in California on Friday, authorities said. The Thomas fire took only 2 ½ weeks to burn its way into history books as unrelenting winds…
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Residents flee as flames approach wealthy California enclave
MONTECITO, Calif. — Residents piled into cars and fled on Saturday as surging winds drove one of the biggest fires in California’s history toward the wealthy coastal enclave of Montecito, northwest of Los Angeles. The mandatory evacuations around Montecito and neighboring Summerland on the outskirts of Santa Barbara came as winds that had eased a…
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Judge tosses $417M award against Johnson & Johnson
LOS ANGELES — A judge on Friday tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer by using Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder for feminine hygiene. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson granted the company’s request for a new trial, saying there were errors and…
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Tobe Hooper, ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ director, dies at 74
FILE – In this file photo dated Aug. 27, 2010, film maker Tobe Hooper in London. Hooper, the horror-movie pioneer whose low-budget sensation “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” took a buzz saw to audiences with its brutally frightful vision, died aged 74, Saturday Aug. 26, 2017, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s office. (Ian West/PA…
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103-year-old Cambodian woman becomes U.S. citizen
Hong Inh waves an American flag and smiles after taking the oath to become a United States citizen at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. At 103, the Cambodian woman was the oldest of more than 10,000 people who took the oath of allegiance. Three generations of her family were with her,…
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LA peace parades mark 25th anniversary of Rodney King riots
LOS ANGELES — Twenty-five years ago, a jury acquitted four white police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, sparking looting and violence that would turn into one of the deadliest race riots in American history. On Saturday, hundreds of people marked the anniversary with marches advocating peace and hope. A “Future Fest”…
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“Star Trek’ wax figures get new mission: helping museum
LOS ANGELES — The starship Enterprise has a new five-year mission: to boldly go and raise money to help a quirky museum live long and prosper. The Hollywood Science Fiction Museum recently took possession of life-sized wax figures of all seven crew members from the original “Star Trek” TV series, including Capt. Kirk. The figures…
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Newly freed gang member kills officer who was rendering assistance
LOS ANGELES — Whittier police thought they were helping a driver after a car crash. Then, they say, he pulled a gun. Officers Keith Lane Boyer and Patrick Hazell didn’t know that the motorist allegedly had killed his cousin hours earlier in neighboring East Los Angeles and stolen his car. “They walked up on the…
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Singer-Songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen dead at age 82
LOS ANGELES — Leonard Cohen, the baritone-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter who seamlessly blended spirituality and sexuality in songs like “Hallelujah,” ”Suzanne” and “Bird on a Wire,” has died at age 82, his son said. “My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles,” Adam Cohen said in a statement Thursday. “He was writing up…