Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 70
A serial arsonist was convicted on September 1 of multiple counts of arson. Harry Burkhart, 29, a German national, was found guilty of starting more than 40 fires in the Southland during the 2011 holiday season. He was convicted of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of an inhabited dwelling, and 2 counts each of possession of an incendiary device, attempted arson, and arson of a structure. Estimated damage caused by the combination of fires is at least $3...
Liberty Mutual Group agreed to pay a nearly million-dollar settlement regarding advertisements the insurance company aired for a car accident forgiveness program that is not available in California. Yesterday a civil complaint was filed in Riverside County Superior Court by district attorneys from Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego counties alleging unfair competition by Liberty Mutual through the airing of the misleading advertisements. Since 2014, the Boston-based insuran...
Today a second suspect was charged with defacing the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial in Venice. Luis Daniel Median, 20, aka "Pheb," was charged with one felony count of vandalism over $400 damage with graffiti and one misdemeanor count of possession of tools to commit vandalism or graffiti. Medina and the first suspect charged, Angel Castro, 24, are accused of vandalizing the POW memorial wall on the 100 block of Sunset Avenue in Venice on May 26, right before the Memorial Day...
Thursday rapper Coolio was charged for possessing a weapon while going through security at the Los Angeles International Airport. On September 17, Coolio, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, was going through the baggage screening at LAX when a handgun was allegedly found in his backpack. Ivey is 53 years old. Since Ivey has two prior convictions, he faces one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon with two priors. In 2001, Ivey was convicted of carrying a...
A bill to protect hospital patients from the pitfalls of "observation" status was signed Tuesday by California Governor Jerry Brown. The bill, SB 1076, will require hospitals to provide equivalent care to observation status patients as to inpatients, inform them of their status, and report to the government the observation services they have provided. Observation status means a patient has not been officially admitted into the hospital. Currently, hospitals have been ab...
9/30: This week the Vons and Pavilions stores in Santa Monica and the local region have been selling customers "reusable" plastic bags instead of providing the usual, more environmentally-friendly paper bags. The plastic bags of thicker plastic than the old, free grocery bags, cost 25 cents. The paper bags, when they were available, cost 10 cents. The use of plastic bags became a hot issue when local marine biologists and other environmentalists decried the eventual...
A man allegedly responsible for death of a Lyft driver in Torrance was ordered today to stand trial. Arturo Martinez Conchas, 21, of Hawthorne pleaded not guilty to one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing death, and one felony count of driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content while causing injury. A misdemeanor charge was added of possession of a controlled substance, M...
9/29-- Today the Los Angeles District Attorney's office changed their case against Youtuber and LGBT rights commentator Calum McSwiggan to a felony vandalism charge. On September 26, McSwiggan, 26, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of vandalism causing over $400 of damage and one misdemeanor count of making a false report to a peace officer. The case stems from an incident on June 27 when McSwiggan was visiting Los Angeles from his native Great Britain for VidCon, an...
On Monday UC Berkeley reinstated a course that had provoked controversy, not only for its virulently anti-Israel syllabus but also for its violation of University of California policy regarding political indoctrination. The course, a one-credit "student-led" class is titled "Ethnic Studies 198: Palestine: A Colonial Settler Analysis." The major subject under discussion in the once-a-week class was to devise ways to "decolonize Palestine." Students were to research, formulate,...
The Assistant Police Chief at LAX resigned hours before CBS2 was to air an investigative report into allegations of corruption in his department. Brian Walker, 52, has admitted to misdemeanor tax fraud and will be sentenced on September 26. However, the crimes he's alleged by current and former police officers under his command to have committed go far beyond tax evasion. Walker's duties at LAX involved overseeing a $130 million budget, human resources, internal affairs,...
Following a multi-state manhunt for the murderers of a California woman near Gorman, the victim's stepsister and the stepsister's boyfriend were arrested in Colorado and charged today with murder and kidnapping. The victim's three children, ages 5, 3, and 2 were kidnapped by the suspects after she was murdered. Kimberly Harvill was found lying dead in the brush by the side of Gorman Post Road in Lebec by a motorist taking a rest. She had multiple gunshot wounds in her upper...
In another North Carolina religious rights controversy, a federal district court judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block a NC law allowing religious accommodation for magistrates who don't want to officiate or grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Judge Max Cogburn upheld the law, which allows magistrates in that state to recuse themselves from having to participate in same-sex couple marriages. Same-sex couples may still marry in North Carolina, as provid...
A man whose victim wrote his name in her own blood was sentenced today for her murder. James Duane Grzeslo, 59, was found guilty on August 10 of the first-degree murder of his girlfriend. Grzeslo was convicted of slashing the woman's throat with a knife at her Beverly Hills apartment in October, 2011. His victim, Cathy Ann Carrasco-Zanini, 58, managed to write Grzeslo's name in her own blood before succumbing to her injuries and dying in her apartment. At the trial, witnesses...
Four burglars engaging in "knock-knock" burglaries in Pacific Palisades received heavy sentences today after their no-contest pleas in court on Monday. Two men and two women working together were observed on June 8, 2015 by members of the LA County Sheriff's Department Major Crime Bureau Burglary Task Force entering and robbing a home in the 800 block of Oreo Place in Pacific Palisades. Donte Lamont Caldwell, 24, was the driver, using a rented Toyota. After casing the area,...
Two college athletic associations have stated they will boycott North Carolina to protest the state's transgender bathroom laws. North Carolina is among 29 states that will not recognize "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" as protected classes for the purpose of bathrooms. Because of this, both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) claim they do not want to the state to profit from championship games that may be held...
Today the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against a large debt collection company for violating state and federal laws against harassment. Jackie Lacey, the LA district attorney, announced the lawsuit against iQ or US, Inc. and its subsidiary, Allied Interstate LLC. The lawsuit is joined by district attorneys in Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Clara counties. The debt collection agency allegedly made illegal and harassing calls to...
California Governor Brown has signed a bill to give farm workers overtime pay. The state will become the first in the nation to grant agricultural workers the right to collect overtime pay when the bill takes effect in 2019. Currently, California is one of only five states where the minimum wage, $10/hour, is greater than the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour. Assembly Bill 1066 will phase in the wage increases over the four years beginning in 2019. For farmers with 25...
A man accused of axing his friend in West Covina and dumping his body down a canyon pleaded not guilty today in Los Angeles Superior Court. Phillip Von Wade, 20, a resident of West Covina, is faced with one count of murder that includes the special allegation of personally using a deadly and dangerous weapon during the commission of the crime. The defendant was supposedly friends with victim Rahkeem Reyes, 27. But on September 5, Wade allegedly used an ax to bludgeon Reyes...
An actor known for his roles in Ultimate Spider Man, Superhero Movie, and High Fidelity was sentenced today to four days in county jail and four years summary probation for a DUI in Glendale last year. Jared Drake Bell, 30, pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol within 10 years of another DUI offense. Bell had been convicted in 2010 of driving under the influence while in San Diego. Bell entered the plea in person and was taken...
Indirect pressure on a faculty member at Syracuse University forced her to disinvite an Israeli filmmaker from a planned 2017 conference on religion in film, as reported by Legal Insurrection. The Israeli filmmaker, Shimon Dotan, is a professor at New York University. His film, "The Settlers," is reportedly negative view of Israelis living in the West Bank. The Boycott-Divest-Sanction movement against Israel claims that it is Israeli occupation of the West Bank that is t...
A bill to protect patients from surprise bills after a hospital visit was passed by the California state legislature and now awaits action by Governor Jerry Brown. The measure, AB 72, sponsored by 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans, has garnered the support of Consumers Union (the policy branch of Consumer Reports), retiree and youth advocacy groups, and health insurance companies. Medical groups in California are divided on the issue. The California Medical Association, ini...
The odds against drivers when it comes to parking tickets are even worse than most people think. David Goldstein, reporter for CBS2/KCAL9 is investigating a culture of pressure in traffic court to rule against the driver and in favor of the city. Two traffic hearing officers have now come forward, claiming their supervisors would overrule the decisions they had made in favor of drivers. Former Los Angeles traffic hearing officer Ernie Nishi decided parking ticket cases for...
In yet another face-off between the liberal left and law enforcement, the Obama Administration filed an amicus brief in a Georgia case that argues the unconstitutionality of fixed bail schedules, a system which doesn't take into account the accused's ability to pay. The Georgia case involves a defendant charged with a misdemeanor in Calhoun, Georgia. The town is so small that court is only held once a week. Although the defendant's rights were already violated by holding h...
Today a shoplifter in Palmdale was sentenced to 47 years to life in state prison. The reason for the long sentence? It was his third strike. On March 5, 2014, the defendant, Geoffrey Scott Bueno aka Spanky, 42, shoplifted various items from a home improvement store in Palmdale. When store security sought to detain him, he kicked and wrestled with the officers. Later it was found he had methamphetamine in his possession. In addition, Bueno was on parole at the time. Bueno's...
A gang member was sentenced today after his conviction for directing a 13-year-old teen to shoot a man. Abraham Geronimo, himself only 23 years old, was found guilty by a jury in August of one count each of attempted murder and assault with a firearm. He was also convicted of gang and weapon charges. The crime occurred on February 10, 2015. Geronimo and a 13-year-old fellow gang member were spraying graffiti in East Los Angeles. When a 49-year-old man moved his car, Geronimo...
