A $119.5-million settlement announced Wednesday of claims stemming from the Aliso Canyon gas leak marks the biggest action yet to deal with the health effects and climate damage of the largest release of methane in U.S. history. The deal between Southern California Gas Co. and city, county and…
“Superman” actress Margot Kidder’s death has been ruled a suicide, and her daughter said Wednesday it’s a relief to finally have the truth out. Kidder, who played Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve’s Superman in her most famous role, was found by a friend in her Montana home on May 13. At the…
Needle-exchange programs are now banned in Costa Mesa — for the time being, at least — after the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance Tuesday prohibiting the establishment and operation of such services anywhere in the city. The vote is meant to give city staff additional time to study issues…
As the Trump administration pushes Congress for billions to fund a border wall, a new government oversight report cautioned that officials need to do more cost analysis and documented planning. The Government Accountability Office report questioned the Trump administration’s method for prioritizing…
A California appeals court has rejected a new trial for Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of rape. A three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Wednesday that Turner received a fair trial. A San Jose jury in 2016 convicted Turner of sexually assaulting…
USC football practice at Howard Jones Field on the campus of the University of Southern California on Wednesday, Aug. 08, 2018 in Los Angeles. USC quarterback’s JT Daniels during USC football practice at Howard Jones Field on the campus of the University of Southern California on Wednesday, Aug. 08, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Photo by…
LAGUNA BEACH — This city’s welcome mat is frayed at the edges. More than six million visitors pour into town each year, many on Laguna Canyon Road. They drive by city parking and storage areas and a decaying red-beige sewer digester before they reach art galleries, shops and beaches. The Laguna Beach city council approved a…
At the Horsethief Canyon Ranch neighborhood, residents played a waiting game Wednesday, looking southwest through falling ash toward the oak-and-brush covered hills and ravines of the Cleveland National Forest, the rising smoke and the occasional spots of flame from the advancing Holy fire. The Holy fire burns near homes in Horsethief Canyon near Corona on…
An Orange County Superior Court judge has rejected a defense request for a court outside the county to determine whether the District Attorney’s Office should be removed from prosecuting a drug case. Judge Kimberley Menninger ruled there were no legal grounds to disqualify the Orange County bench from doing its “ethical and statutory duty.” The…
The Mendocino Complex fire grew this week to become the biggest wildfire in California history, scorching 300,086 acres by Wednesday, Aug. 8. The devastating blaze already destroyed 116 homes and 105 other buildings, with another 10,300 structures still threatened, according to the US Forest Service. This latest disaster follows a national trend of less frequent wildfires growing…
