LAGUNA BEACH — Whether it was from the beach, along rock outcroppings, underwater, or on top of a wave, photographers captured the beauty and vibrancy of this seaside town’s coastline. This year, 60 professional and amateur photographers entered the 8th Annual Bluebelt Photo contest. Put on by the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition, the contest raises awareness…

Ugandan security forces are searching for a U.S. citizen and a local driver who were abducted in a wildlife park and their kidnappers demanded a ransom, authorities said Wednesday, April 2. Multiple media outlets have identified the American as Kimberly Sue Endicott of Costa Mesa. The missing people were taken in an ambush by four…

In June 2017, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell went before the Board of Supervisors to ask for help. Short on time, he leapfrogged other county agencies to make a case for his proposed $3-billion budget, noting the ballooning costs of paying deputies overtime and of managing mental…

A small-town artist who created the first paint-by-numbers pictures and helped turn the kits into an American sensation during the 1950s has died at age 93. Dan Robbins, whose works were dismissed by some critics but later celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American…

A shallow magnitude 3.0 earthquake was reported Thursday afternoon three miles from Pinnacles, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 1:50 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 5 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 15 miles from Soledad, Calif., 18 miles…

On April 5, 1964, the Deauville Beach Club on Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica goes up in flames.

There are growing questions about the woman who drove the getaway car that the suspect in the shooting of Nipsey Hussle used to flee the scene of the attack. Police say Eric Holder, 29, got into a dispute with Hussle on Sunday at the rapper’s shop on Slauson Avenue. Holder allegedly returned and…

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio congressman Tim Ryan says he’s running for president. The 45-year-old announced his 2020 Democratic primary bid Thursday on ABC’s “The View.” He plans an official kickoff rally in downtown Youngstown Saturday, where a big turnout by organized labor is expected. Ryan, a political moderate from Niles, made an unsuccessful bid to…

This undated photo provided by the Aurora, Ill., Police Department shows missing child Timmothy Pitzen. Authorities are using DNA to determine if a teen who told police he fled from kidnappers is the missing boy. (Aurora Police Department via AP) By DAN SEWELL and DON BABWIN CINCINNATI — Authorities conducted DNA testing to try to…

Jim Doti’s shoe snags a chair leg and he keels backward. Yet the former Chapman University president nimbly recovers and I’m silently grateful for his reflexes. It’s not because I think he could crack open like Humpty Dumpty. A high-altitude climber, Doti’s far too tough to break bones in a simple slip and fall. I…