LOS ANGELES – A Bakersfield man was behind bars Thursday on federal charges of making telephone threats to Planned Parenthood facilities in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections offered under Roe v Wade. Nishith Tharaka Vandebona, 34, pleaded not guilty late Wednesday afternoon to three misdemeanor counts of threatened forcible intimidation regarding the obtaining and provision of reproductive health services, along with two felony counts of transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was ordered to remain jailed without bond pending a tentative May 30…
Author: City News Service
LOS ANGELES – Reacting to the suspected overdose deaths of three people found inside a Skid Row apartment building, City Councilwoman Traci Park Thursday urged further action against street drugs. The three bodies were found Wednesday afternoon inside a building in the 600 block of Wall Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, which described the fatalities as suspected overdoses. The incident occurred at a property owned by Skid Row Housing Trust, a nonprofit housing provider whose buildings have become so distressed that last week Mayor Karen Bass and City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto asked for a court-appointed receiver to…
LOS ANGELES -The city of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against a journalist and watchdog group, hoping to recover photos of police officers released last year, including some who work undercover. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants journalist Ben Camacho of Knock LA and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. The suit states the defendants received the photos, names and work locations of 9,000 officers through a public record request. In releasing the information, however, the city included photos and information of officers working undercover assignments, a release that police and city officials have dubbed a mistake.…
GARDEN GROVE – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Thursday released the name of a man killed while he was behind the wheel of a sedan during a crash with a big rig on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway in Garden Grove. The motorist was identified as Juan Jose Mendoza, 38, of Corona, said sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woodroof. The crash on the westbound freeway at Valley View Street occurred about 11:55 p.m. Friday, the California Highway Patrol reported. A representative from the coroner’s office was called to the location at 12:29 a.m., the CHP said. The roadway was cleared at 4:04…
LOS ANGELES – The September death in Los Angeles of Coolio, the Compton-raised rapper who achieved international fame with the 1990s Grammy- winning single “Gangsta’s Paradise,” was due to the effects of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, the coroner’s office announced Thursday. Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., collapsed while at a friend’s house on Sept. 28 and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 59. The Los Angeles County coroner’s report also noted that the rapper was suffering from heart disease and asthma and had recently used phencyclidine, or PCP. The coroner’s office deemed his death…
Certain COVID-19 renter protections ended last week, and in response, the city of Los Angeles has extended some of the emergency protections to ensure renters are protected against unlawful eviction. “As we work to bring Angelenos inside, we also have to work to prevent Angelenos from falling into homelessness,” a statement from Mayor Karen Bass’ office said. “Even if you are not impacted by the end of the COVID-19 emergency protections, please share the information with your networks,” the statement continued. “No one in our city should face any form of housing discrimination or an unlawful eviction.” The city has extended…
LOS ANGELES – Authorities sought the public’s help Wednesday to identify a patient at LAC+USC Medical Center and find her family. The woman has been at the facility for two days, according to the hospital. She is about 34 years old, 5-feet-5 inches tall, weighs 161 pounds, and has strawberry blonde hair and blue/green eyes. She has a tattoo of a yellow sun and a baby blue moon on her lower abdomen. The woman’s medical condition was not immediately available. Anyone knowing her identity was urged to call Yen Sau, a clinical social worker at the hospital, at 323-409-4860.
By PAUL ANDERSON SANTA ANA – A 42-year-old man sexually assaulted five girls and one boy, half of whom he is related to, over about eight years in Chino Hills and La Habra, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday while the defendant’s attorney said her client is innocent and the victims were “harmed” by someone else. Wesley Gerardo Estrada is charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, rape of an unconscious person, a count of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14, two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child and a count…
LOS ANGELES – Three people have been found dead inside a building in the 600 block of Wall Street in downtown Los Angeles, ABC7 reports. The station reports that narcotics may be involved in the deaths, and a fourth victim may have been discovered last night at the same location. Story is still developing.
LOS ANGELES – There were no tickets sold with all six numbers in the latest drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery and the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing will grow to $414 million. There were also no tickets sold with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, the Multi-State Lottery Association, which conducts the game, announced. The numbers drawn Tuesday were 1, 37, 45, 62, 64 and the Mega number was 4. The estimated jackpot was $385 million. The drawing was the 18th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold. The odds of matching…