LOS ANGELES COUNTY NEWS
SS Lane Victory makes its move to Berth 46
The merchant ship - which served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam - left its longtime spot just under the Vincent Thomas Bridge to make way for terminal expansions. | PHOTO GALLERY
FAA bill passes despite opposition from 'Occu-Fly'...
The U.S. Senate on Monday finally approved a long-term reauthorization of the F.A.A., including a disputed provision that would make it difficult for transportation workers to unionize.
Civic Light Opera moves operations to San Pedro's...
The Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities, the embattled theater company without a permanent home, has found a new facility to stage its award-winning productions: the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.
Woman recalls sexual assault at Redondo Union High...
A former Redondo Union High School student tearfully recalled Monday how she pleaded "please don't" when a man hiding in a campus restroom burst into her stall and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint. | POLICE NEWS | BLOG: SOUTH BAY CRIME, COURT NEWS | FACEBOOK
'Sling Baby' Doritos spot airs during Super Bowl,...
Jonah Folk had gotten used to seeing himself in the Doritos commercial his dad and a team of people helped create for a Super Bowl advertising contest. | VIDEOS: The commercial | The reaction
4 surviving victims of Hawthorne bar shooting are...
Four victims of a deadly Hawthorne shooting this weekend were recovering Monday as police searched for the gunmen who opened fire outside a crowded bar, officials said. | POLICE NEWS | BLOG: SOUTH BAY CRIME, COURT NEWS | FACEBOOK
Ask the Lawyer: The legal definition of...
I read about two women who were working as massage therapists and were charged with prostitution. It was some kind of sting operation. In this day and age with all that's available of a graphic nature on the Internet, how is prostitution defined? What's the punishment?
For the Record: Lakewood city manager
In an editorial Friday, "A success story," the late John Todd was identified as a longtime city manager of Lakewood; he was the city attorney.
Storm to bring rain, high winds on Tuesday
An approaching storm system will bring the Southland several hours of rain and high winds Tuesday, National Weather Service forecasters said today.
SS Lane Victory moving to make way for terminal...
The SS Lane Victory merchant ship - a San Pedro port landmark for more than two decades - will be moved to a new, temporary home on Monday. Regular tours, as a result, will be closed next weekend but will resume on Feb. 13 at Berth 46. | PHOTO GALLERY
Earned Income Tax Credit can generate hefty...
LOS ANGELES - With tax season on the horizon, local officials and community groups began an annual effort today to raise awareness of the Earned Income Tax Credit that can generate hefty refunds for low- and moderate-income families with children.
Outraged parents rally outside Miramonte...
LOS ANGELES - About three dozen parents and supporters protested today at an elementary school rocked by allegations of lewd conduct crimes by two teachers against children.
Students at Palos Verdes Peninsula High show their...
The computer-science based team at Peninsula High ranks among the finest of its kind in the United States. On Thursday, the team learned it is among just a dozen high schools that will square off in March for a final jamboree in Washington, D.C. | SCHOOL NEWS | BLOG

Virgin America adds L.A.-Philadelphia route
Virgin America is adding service between Philadelphia and Los Angeles beginning this spring.The California-based carrier will launch three daily nonstop flights from Philadelphia to Los Angeles International beginning April 4.On April 10 it will begin two daily nonstop flights to San Francisco International Airport.
CBS plans "Hawaii Five-0", "NCIS" crossover for...
CBS is planning a May sweeps crossover of its television crime dramas "Hawaii Five-0" and "NCIS: Los Angeles."TV Guide reports that the network's crossover will begin with characters from "NCIS" played by Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J visiting "Hawaii Five-0" on a Monday broadcast, followed the next night by a visit to Los Angeles by Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan of "Hawaii Five-0."
USDA to close two Los Angeles offices
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has unveiled a plan to close hundreds of USDA installations, which he hopes will streamline the department's operations.Under the plan, known as the Blueprint for Stronger Service and unveiled Monday, the department will close 259 domestic offices, facilities and labs, and seven foreign offices.Among the offices slated to be closed are the Food and Nutrition Services office and the Natural Resource Conservation Services Offices in Los...
Los Angeles has second most financial workers
The Los Angeles area has the second-largest group of finance and insurance workers in the nation, trailing New York, according to a new analysis from The Business Journals On Numbers.With 254,700 workers in finance and insurance, Los Angeles came in behind New York, which has 580,400 workers in those fields.On Numbers analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for the nation's finance and insurance industries as of 2009, the latest year for which official figures are available.For the full report,...
AEW Capital Management pays $55.3M for Museum...
Portland's scorching apartment market is off to a solid start with the $55.3 million sale of Museum Place, a 140-unit apartment building anchored by a Safeway grocery store, to a Los Angeles investor.AEW Capital Management L.P. purchased the property from Sockeye Museum Place South. The capitalization rate or rate of return on the investment was not released.AEW, which was not available for comment, is the latest institutional investor attracted by low 3.34 percent vacancy rates for rental...
Gas prices jump in New Year
The first week of 2012 began with new January record highs for Southern California gas prices.According to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.698 per gallon, which is 8.6 cents higher than last week, five cents lower than last month, and 37 cents higher than last year.On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.71, up 8.4 cents from last week, one cent lower than a month ago,...
Ratings, reports come in after Rose Bowl
Attendance figures and other reports are filtering in after the 98th Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio, which was played Monday.The game, played in the eponymous Pasadena stadium, reported an over-capacity crowd of 91,245 for the matchup between the Oregon Ducks and the Wisconsin Badgers. The listed capacity of the Rose Bowl is 91,000. While attendance was over the 100 percent mark, it was down from last year's attendance of 94,118 to see Wisconsin take on Texas Chrisitian University.According...
Pacific Meso Center opens free-standing...
Pacific Meso Center has opened a new state-of-the-art mesothelioma research laboratory dedicated solely to the discovery of new treatments for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest lining caused by asbestos exposure.Pacific Meso Center, a division of the nonprofit Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, said the lab at 10780 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles is the first of its kind in the world, and was "established to lead a focused and collaborative mesothelioma research effort...
Unemployment up by 5 million in major cities
Nearly 8.8 million workers are currently unemployed, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' October data, and 717,944 of them are in Los Angeles.But for LA, this is not the worst unemployment seen in the decade. The lowest number of unemployed residents of Los Angeles that there have been since Oct. 2001 was 261,946, according to On Numbers, and the highest number was 766,109. That means unemployment is currently 174.08 percent worse than the best period in the last decade, but 6.29...
Facebook: LAX is 'most social' airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the most social airport in the world according to Facebook Inc.The social media giant compiled a list of the 25 most social airports by cataloging data from people checking in at airports on Facebook and through third-party location services that integrated with the Facebook Places API between August 2010 and November 2011.Here's the full list:Los Angeles International Airport Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Chicago O'Hare International...
Stanton steps down at Los Angeles Times
Russ Stanton is stepping down as Editor of the Los Angeles Times as of December 23 and will be succeeded by Managing Editor for News Davan Maharaj, the paper said Tuesday.Stanton has held the top newsroom position since February 2008, when he replaced James O'Shea, who was fired in January 2008 after refusing a management order to cut $4 million from the budget in the newsroom.Under Stanton's watch, the paper won three Pulitzer Prizes.According to a statement, Maharaj, who has worked at the...
Forever 21 plans 3 stores in China
Clothing retailer Forever 21 plans to open three stories in China, including a flagship store in Beijing.Executives at the Los Angeles-based company, who are accompanying Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on a trade mission to Asia, on Tuesday pledged to open a 24,000-square-foot store in a multistory mall in Beijing's central shopping district, Wangfujing, according to the Los Angeles Times.Forever 21 also plans to open stores in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the the first half of 2012.The...
L.A. sues pot dispensaries near schools to close
Los Angeles is suing to shutter nine marijuana dispensaries that are too close to schools as part of a continuing bid to rein in the number of the city's dispensaries.The Los Angeles city attorney's office said the dispensaries are within 600 feet of schools, which is a violation of state law. The city also is seeking civil penalties of up to $5,000 a day if the dispensaries remain open, according to the Los Angeles Times.The lawsuits were filed Nov. 15, but more could come next week."These are...
High L.A. winds knock out power, close schools
Strong Santa Ana winds throughout Southern California toppled trees and downed power lines Wednesday, causing widespread blackouts, school closures, flight delays and traffic jams in the Los Angeles area.High winds knocked out power to more than 340,000 homes, with Pasadena, Sierra Madre and other foothill areas of the San Gabriel Valley the hardest hit, according to the Los Angeles Times.Southern California Edison reported 213,200 without power as of 11 a.m. Thursday, said the Times. In the...
LA's small businesses drop almost 2%
There were 1.8 percent less small businesses in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area in 2009 then there were before the recession began in 2008, according to an On Numbers report.There were 6.96 million small businesses in the nation's 938 metropolitan and micropolitan areas as of 2008, the first full year of the recession. That figure dropped 2 percent to 6.82 million in 2009, according to an On Numbers analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.This downward trend was widespread. Ninety-seven of...
Los Angeles to add 95 natural gas buses
Los Angeles is spending $67 million to buy a fleet of new buses that will run on compressed natural gas and have features such as adjustable seats and climate control, according to the Los Angeles Times.The city plans to roll out 95 new buses over the next three months, replacing older diesel buses that are being phased out, the newspaper said.The new buses will have 49 seats instead of 43 and will offer improvements such as overhead storage areas, a smoother ride, reading lights over each seat...
Cedars-Sinai to close most psychiatry programs
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center plans to close its in-patient and outpatient psychiatry programs over the next year.The Los Angeles hospital will keep its psychiatric services in the emergency room, transplant center, cancer center and other inpatient clinical areas, while other patients will gradually move to other facilities. The nonprofit hospital also plans to phase out its psychiatry residency program.Cedars said the moves were designed to focus on the hospital's core strengths."At a time when...
State investigates Orange County's plan to shift...
California state officials are looking into whether Orange County's plan to balance its budget by dipping into school funds is legal.H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state's Department of Finance, told the Los Angeles Times, if the proposal goes ahead, the state could take legal action against the county."We think it runs afoul of state law," Palmer said.County officials have said they have to redirect $73.5 million in taxes that were earmarked for the county's K-12 schools and community...
NBCUniversal to open Harry Potter theme park in...
NBCUniversal is planning to bring the world of Harry Potter to its Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.Officials at Universal, which is owned by Comcast Corp., and Warner Bros., which made the Harry Potter films and has licensing rights to J.K. Rowling's books, are currently finalizing the deal, which should be announced next week, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.If the deal goes through, the new attraction would...
Governor appoints two CalSTRS board members
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two men with finance backgrounds to the California State Teachers' Retirement System board.In October, Brown said he would appoint board members with greater independence and stronger financial backgrounds to public retirement boards.Michael Lawson, 58, of Los Angeles, was a partner at the Los Angeles law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP for 16 years until he retired last year. He worked as an associate at that firm for 15 years prior to making...
LA Inc. hires Campbell Ewald for ad campaign
LA Inc., a nonprofit group that promotes Los Angeles tourism, said it has hired marketing company Campbell Ewald as its agency of record to launch a global ad campaign."Campbell Ewald's ability to develop creative solutions to complex business decisions with proven marketing strategies will play a key role in strengthening the marketing efforts for Los Angeles tourism," LA Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Don Skeoch said in a statement. "The agency's successful client track record with campaigns...
Quicksilver sells shares in BreitBurn Energy
BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P.'s largest shareholder, Quicksilver Resources Inc., announced a $115 million public offering of its stock in the Los Angeles-based oil and gas company.Quicksilver, a Fort Worth, Texas-based oil and gas developer, said it is selling 6.97 million BreitBurn units, or about 87 percent of its 13.6 percent stake in BreitBurn, for $16.52 a share. The price represents a 4 percent discount to the stock's pre-market opening price.Quicksilver has granted the underwriters a...
Los Angeles home prices continue to fall in...
Home prices in the Los Angeles metropolitan area continued their slide in September, according to the monthly Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller housing indexes.L.A. home prices slipped 0.8 percent in September from August and was down 4.2 percent from a year ago. The drop was steeper than in August, when prices were down 0.4 percent from July.The decline reflected a nationwide downward trend in home prices. Of the 20 major cities tracked by S&P, 17 showed month-to-month decreases. Only New York,...
Melrose 2 fund sues Paramount over profit sharing
Investment group Melrose Investors 2 L.P. has filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures accusing the film studio of fraud and breach of contract for underreporting profits it made from its hit movies.In the suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, New York-based Melrose said it hasn't received any profits on the $375 million it has invested in 29 Paramount films since its 2006 agreement with the studio, according to the Wall Street Journal.The films, which included three...
American Airlines bankruptcy may lead to merger...
The reorganization of AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, could pave the wave for a merger with US Airways Group Inc. as the two seek to become more competitive on size and costs.US Airways has been seeking a cost-sharing partner for some time. The fifth-largest U.S. carrier failed in a hostile bid in 2006 for Delta Air Lines Inc. and in two rounds of merger talks with United Airlines, according to Bloomberg Businesssweek.American is the second-largest carrier serving Los Angeles...

  Popeyes to double stores in Southern California