La Habra enacted a law Monday night to ban registered sex offenders from city parks and playgrounds, joining several other jurisdictions in Orange County that have passed or are considering similar ordinances.
The ordinance resulted from a vote last month by the La Habra City Council to create "child safety zones," which are off limits to sex offenders unless they obtain written permission to enter from the city Police Department. Under the new ordinance, sex offenders caught in the zones would face misdemeanor prosecution.
"The city of La Habra took a big step today in protecting children from dangerous, sexually deviant predators," Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said in a statement Monday night.
Similar laws have been enacted by Westminster and Irvine.
The ordinances are modeled after one approved for unincorporated county areas in April by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
19 September 2011
Sex offenders banned from parks and playgrounds in La Habra
Camp Pendleton brush fire 80% contained
A brush fire caused by the fatal crash of a helicopter at Camp Pendleton has burned 120 acres and is 80% contained, the Marine Corps announced about 6:15 p.m.
"The fire does not possess the threat of leaving the base at this time," according to the announcement.
Two Marines aboard an AH-1 Cobra helicopter died in the crash, which occurred about 1 p.m.
Camp Pendleton firefighters and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crews backed by helicopters continue to battle the blaze, the Marines said.
Music teacher accused of trying to arrange sex date with girl, 11
Summer heat to hold on through last week of season
Woman escapes when kidnapper takes her to breakfast, police say
--Tony Perry in San Diego
Marine killed in Afghanistan had dreamed of long motorcycle ride
ne Cpl. Michael Dutcher was dreaming of a cross-country motorcycle ride from Camp Pendleton to his hometown of Asheville, N.C., once his battalion returned from Afghanistan.
Dutcher "wanted to see some of the country he had spent the last four years fighting for," the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote after interviewing his family.
There were other plans too. He was engaged to be married. He was planning to go college and maybe become a history teacher.
None of those plans will come true.
Dutcher, 22, was killed Thursday during a foot patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan. His flag-draped casket arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Saturday.
He graduated from high school in June 2007 and immediately shipped out to Marine boot camp. He was on his second deployment to Afghanistan and had received three Bronze Stars.
"He was loving and caring," Dutcher's mother, Teresa, told the Asheville paper. "He was an awesome dude."
Dutcher's funeral is set for Friday in Asheville.
He was the 10th Marine from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment killed in Afghanistan, according to the independent website > The battalion is assigned to the Sangin district, long a Taliban stronghold.
Music teacher accused of trying to arrange sex date with girl, 11
Summer heat to hold on through last week of season
Woman escapes when kidnapper takes her to breakfast, police say
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
Photo: The casket of Cpl. Michael Dutcher arrives at Dover Air Force Base (Del.). Credit: U.S. Air Force
Judge rules in favor of charter taking over two L.A. schools
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the city school district can allow an outside group to run two long-struggling campuses.
The teachers union had to stop the Los Angeles Unified School District from letting Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school organization, take over all of Clay Middle School in Athens and half of Jordan High in Watts. The other half of Jordan is operated by a nonprofit group backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Classes have started at both campuses.
Teachers union officials had claimed that the district needed the approval of the majority of permanent teachers at the two schools before giving Green Dot control, but the judge ruled that the district was “obligated†to take action under federal and state law.
Teachers union officials said they planned to appeal the decision.
-- Jason Song
West Hollywood considers fur ban
West Hollywood has long been known for its animal-friendly laws. After all, this is a city where pets are formally recognized as “companions†and their owners as “guardians.â€
In its latest effort, the City Council will consider an ordinance Monday night that would prohibit the sale of clothing or personal attire made of animal hair, wool or fur. Under the proposal, the sale of leather would not be considered a violation, however.
Ed Buck, a volunteer with Fur Free West Hollywood, believes the city is on the right side of the issue.
“I think this would be an international, great turning point for the humane community worldwide,†Buck said. “We’ve gone from talking about the problem to talking about the solution. We all know fur is dead.â€
But the board of the Avenues: Art, Fashion and Design district opposes the ordinance.
The fashion industry would perceive West Hollywood as “a city not interested in allowing the creative expression inherent in fashion†if the new law is approved, according to a letter to the City Council from the chair and executive director of the organization. The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce also opposes the ordinance.
Keith Kaplan, a local resident and executive director of the Fur Information Council of America, does not think the City Council spent enough time determining the economic impact of the ordinance. His group hired a research firm to conduct an economic impact study that will be completed this week, Kaplan said.
“The City Council members are voting solely on the basis of their own moral compasses and personal agendas, and that is not democratic government,†Kaplan said.
Court trustee gets 18 months for theft to feed gambling habit
A licensed private fiduciary who acted as a court-appointed trustee was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after admitting that she stole nearly $500,000 from clients to feed a gambling habit.
Teresa Laggner, 56, had pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to one count of wire fraud and one of money laundering.
Laggner, while managing numerous bank accounts for trust beneficiaries, transferred funds to her personal accounts without authorization, according to court documents.
The total loss to the trusts totaled more than $470,000, prosecutors said. Much of the money was used to gamble at casinos in San Diego and Nevada.
Along with the prison term, Laggner agreed to make $471,000 in restitution.
Your commute: Live L.A. traffic conditions
Your commute: Live L.A. traffic conditions
L.A. building inspector gets prison for taking bribes
A city of Los Angeles building inspector who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes during an FBI sting operation was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison.
Raoul Germain, 60, of Altadena was “very remorseful†about his deeds but also did not cooperate with federal investigators trying to determine the extent of corruption within the Department of Building and Safety, said his lawyer, Steven Cron. Asked why Germain did not help with the FBI probe, Cron responded: “What do you think happens to someone who cooperates?
“There is certainly the possibility of danger to oneself or one’s family,†the lawyer added.
Germain was one of two men caught on tape accepting bribes involving multiple building sites in South L.A. In exchange for thousands of dollars, Germain signed off on electrical work, plumbing, framing and fire sprinklers –- sometimes without visiting the construction sites, according to an affidavit filed by FBI agents.
Prosecutors recommended the 21-month sentence. Germain had asked for a lighter sentence, appealing to U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder in a personal letter. Snyder declined the request.
“I recognize that Mr. Germain is 60 years of age,†she said. “I think, however, that the offense is one that is serious.â€
Cron said his client had a “short-term lapse of judgment†and felt he “lost the best job he ever had because he got greedy.â€
Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Akrotirianakis declined to respond to Cron’s comment concerning the dangers of cooperating with federal agents. But he said that “as a very general matter,†cooperating with investigators can make someone angry. “I don’t know of any facts that suggest that the danger is more particular in this case,†he said.
Sentencing for Hugo Gonzalez, a second city inspector who pleaded guilty, is scheduled for Oct. 3, Akrotirianakis said.
In addition to Germain and Gonzalez, two other Building and Safety employees have been fired in the wake of recent investigations. One of them, Frank Rojas, is asking the city’s civil service commission to overturn his termination.
A federal grand jury has demanded personnel records for a dozen Building and Safety employees, including Gonzalez and Germain.
-- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall
Brush fire at Camp Pendleton caused by fatal helicopter crash
A brush fire caused by a helicopter crash that killed two Marines has burned 50 acres, the Marine Corps announced at 4 p.m. Monday.
The fire, near the base's border with De Luz, is being fought by Camp Pendleton firefighters, four helicopters and four air tankers.
The crash of the AH-1 Cobra occurred about 1 p.m. during a training mission. The two Marines aboard the helicopter died.
L.A. building inspector convicted of bribery faces prison stint
Michelle Le case: Items found in area near decomposed remains
Bomb threat on Oakland-bound flight an apparent hoax
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 262
steps a costumed crusader on Hollywood Boulevard in this Jan. 14 photo by Greg Lilly.
Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.
Marine helicopter crashes at Camp Pendleton
A helicopter with two Marines aboard crashed Monday in a training area at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps said.
The fate of the two Marines was unknown. Camp Pendleton firefighters were responding to the scene, Marine officials said.
The helicopter, an AH-1 Cobra, is part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Health officials team with churches to fight STDs in South L.A.
Motivated by rising rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia among young black women in South Los Angeles, county leaders and public health officials launched a new education and testing campaign Monday with some unlikely partner: churches.
Pastors and "first ladies" from churches throughout the region said they planned to raise awareness about the diseases among their congregations and to spread the word about a home-testing program.
“Nobody wants to talk about it,†said Debra Williams, wife of the pastor at McCoy Memorial Baptist Church. “We need to change that.â€
The campaign, led by Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Department of Public Health Director Jonathan Fielding, will increase access to free test kits and information about both diseases through kiosks and a mobile health van. Health officials will also be working with clinics to increase follow-up with patients and with schools to increase prevention education.
Irvine 11 D.A.'s closing statement branded 'political theater'
ers of various groups gathered for a news conference outside the Santa Ana Courthouse on Monday afternoon to condemn the actions of the Orange County district attorney's office in the case of the so-called Irvine 11.
Shakeed Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California called the closing statements of the prosecutor "political theater."
"We patiently wait for the verdict and for justice to prevail," he said.
Others present at the news conference included representatives from the L.A. Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Center of Orange County.
Monday morning, prosecutor Dan Wagner argued before jurors that the "right to free speech is not absolute."
He said the students, who interrupted a speech last year by Micheal Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, violated the 1st Amendment by substantially limiting Oren's ability to communicate his ideas.
Wagner said censorship of ideas breaks down a free exchange of information.
"Who is the censor in this case?" he asked the jury. "Right there -- 10 of them."
He was referring to the students, seven of them from UC Irvine and three from UC Riverside, who are accused of conspiring to disrupt Oren's speech and of disrupting his speech, both misdemeanors. Charges against an 11th defendant were dropped pending completion of community service.
The defense will make closing arguments in the case Monday afternoon.
Agency weighs help for politicians affected by Kinde Durkee case
The state's ethics watchdog agency has set a meeting next week to consider whether campaign finance limits and spending report deadlines should be temporarily waived for politicians affected by the alleged misuse of funds by campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee.
Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said she and the staff will hold the public meeting Sept. 30 to hear from campaigns concerning whether a federal investigation of Durkee, which has resulted in many bank accounts being frozen, requires flexibility in complying with rules regarding funding of campaigns.
Durkee is accused of taking thousands of dollars from the campaign accounts of numerous elected officials, including Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana). "This is mainly in response to the massive impact of the Durkee situation," Ravel said of the FPPC staff meeting. "There are so many questions that people have raised, and I think it's fair for people to come to us with other issues they have."
Current law would prevent state candidates from going back to supporters who maxed out on giving to replenish their campaign accounts, but the limits could be temporarily raised for those people by the Legislature. The FPPC may also provide extensions for filing financial paperwork to candidates whose campaign accounts were handled by Durkee and have been frozen by banks.
"There have been all these issues about whether the banks will even give them information about their accounts, and so it will be hard for them to comply with some of the requirements that we have,'' Ravel said. "We are going to be sensitive to those concerns." The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the commission's Sacramento office, 428 J Street, Suite 800.
-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento
Hockey mom accused of having sex with son's underage teammates
An Orange County mother of three is accused of having sex with teenage members of her son's youth hockey team.
Kathia Maria Davis, 44, was arrested Wednesday from her Laguna Niguel home on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor, Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said. She was released the same day on $25,000 bail.
Since then, Amormino said, investigators have found evidence of at least one and possibly two more victims. The first victim was under 16 years old when the sexual conduct began, and it allegedly continued for several years. The second victim may have been under 14 years old, and the charge in that case will be lewd acts with a minor, Amormino said. The acts allegedly took place at Davis' home.
Investigators were initially looking into allegations that Davis hosted parties and provided alcohol to the boys, but as the investigation progressed the allegations of sexual conduct surfaced. Amormino said the first victim told his mother, who contacted Davis' ex-husband.
Davis is divorced and has three children. Amormino said he did not believe that her son was aware of what was going on.
Davis has not yet been charged. A phone number listed for her had been disconnected.
Man who found victim online gets year in jail for sex assault
A 67-year-old Los Angeles man will serve a year in jail and be required to register as a sex offender after pleading no contest to sexually assaulting a woman he met on the Match.com dating website.
Alan Wurtzel drove the woman home on their second date and followed her into her home, where he held her down and forcibly assaulted her, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Wutzel pleaded no contest Monday to a count of felony sexual battery by restraint, Robison said. Judge Barbara Johnson also ordered him to register as a sex offender and undergo a year of counseling, she said.
The victim was not in court for the sentencing, Robison said.
Irvine 11 used 'heckler's veto' on Israeli ambassador, D.A. says
so-called Irvine 11 case in which a group of Muslim students are charged with disrupting an Israeli ambassador's speech at UC Irvine.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner said the students’ protest trampled Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s right to free speech.
"This is about a heckler's veto," Wagner said. "This is about freedom of speech. This is why we're all here.â€
The prosecutor said there are rules that govern society, pulling up the phrases "behave yourselves" and "Be civil Be appropriate" on a PowerPoint presentation for jurors.
"Yes, protesters have a longstanding tradition on campuses — we all know that," Wagner said, adding that the law also protects a "marketplace of ideas."
"Truth will win in a competitive atmosphere. To commit censorship breaks down that marketplace," he said.
The Orange County courtroom was packed with about 200 spectators, including parents, student supporters, interfaith community members and teachers, filling every seat. More were turned away.
In his instructions to the jury, Judge Peter J. Wilson asked that jurors consider each of the 10 defendants individually, not holding any evidence presented against one against another.
Prosecutors originally filed charges this year against 11 UCI and UC Riverside students after the students repeatedly interrupted Oren's speech Feb. 8, 2010, shouting, "Michael Oren, propagating murder is not free speech," among other things.
Criminal charges were tentatively dismissed against one student, Hakim Nasreddine Kebir, who was expected to complete 40 hours of community service at a Costa Mesa soup kitchen.
The 10 students are charged with two misdemeanors of conspiracy to willfully commit a crime and disrupt a public meeting. They face up to six months in jail if convicted.
The defense has set yet to give its closing remarks in the case.
Redondo Beach day laborer ordinance is ruled unconstitutional
A Redondo Beach effort to crack down on day laborers is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The city's anti-solicitation ordinance, which has been in place for more than two decades, drew attention in 2004 after undercover police officers posing as potential employers arrested nearly 60 day laborers in a period of about four weeks. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Comite de Jornaleros de Redondo Beach sued the city soon after those arrests.
The ordinance, which city officials said was needed to regulate traffic safety at two major intersections, barred standing on a street or highway and soliciting “employment, business or contributions from an occupant of any motor vehicle.â€
Officials fire bean bags at bear to scare it from La Crescenta
State Department of Fish and Game officials fired two rounds of bean bags at a bear over the weekend after it made its way down from Deukmejian Wilderness Park.
Glendale police and animal control officers responded to the 3400 block of Markridge Road in La Crescenta at about 8 p.m. Saturday after residents reported that the bear was sifting through trash cans and meandering through front yards, Sgt. Tom Lorenz told the Glendale News-Press.
After officials fired two rounds of bean bags at the bear, it fled into a nearby wash.
"They fire rounds just to scare them and get the bear's attention and not welcome it in the area," Lorenz said.
Around midnight, Glendale police officers received reports that the bear had returned to the neighborhood, but as of Sunday morning, Lorenz said, there were no sightings.
Officials also issued a public-safety alert and stressed the importance of not leaving pet food outside overnight and securing trash cans to make residential properties less inviting for enterprising wildlife.
"We've got to make sure we don't provide [the bear] with the opportunity to stay in our neighborhood," Lorenz said.
Should the bear keep returning to the neighborhood, Lorenz said, officials with the Department of Fish and Game will trap and relocate it.
Earlier this month, a black bear frightened residents of La Crescenta's Briggs Terrace neighborhood. It was also digging through trash cans in search of a snack.