A San Clemente woman with a history of outlandish scams, including a string of fake pregnancies, was arrested Tuesday amid allegations she concocted a nonexistent firefighter husband to collect at least $2,000 in donated goods she claimed would help firefighters during the Holy fire in August. Ashley Bemis, 28, was taken into custody at her…
After Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Garrett Rifkin’s foot was badly injured in a hit-and-run accident in August, the doctors asked if he would be open to amputation so he could one day maybe get back to patrol duty or run again, but with a prosthetic leg. Three hours were all it took for Rifkin…
Laguna Woods Village residents and their guests were treated to a cornucopia of holiday entertainment on Sunday, Dec. 16, as the Old Pros theatre troupe presented its annual multicultural, multifaith celebration, ‘Tis the Season, at the Performing Arts Center. Backed by The Woods Combo, the sparkling performances by a cast of 30 included songs, readings, poetry,…
The use of chemical spray to subdue juvenile offenders in Los Angeles County detention facilities has risen sharply in recent years, prompting the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to order an investigation into safety conditions for youths and staff. The supervisors, who have raised concerns about…
A Los Angeles-area man accused of trying to set up sexual encounters with children as young as 8 in Tijuana was sentenced Monday to 17½ years in prison. In his plea agreement, Kenneth Bigler, 53, of Walnut admitted to having sexual contact with girls ages 14 to 16. But in numerous communications…
Sonoma County has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit with the parents of a 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy who was fatally shot in 2013 by a sheriff’s deputy who mistook the boy’s plastic gun for an AK-47. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleged that Sonoma County Sheriff’s…
Penny Marshall had been making minor inroads in Hollywood for several years before the iconic Laverne and Shirley characters debuted as Richie and Fonzie’s double dates on an episode of “Happy Days” in 1975. Marshall, who played the feisty Laverne on the spinoff series, “Laverne & Shirley,” was…
Over the last year, the Los Angeles Times has published a series about a controversial program that pays Los Angeles police and firefighters essentially double at the end of their careers. The latest installment looked at how those extra payments drove some former employees’ retirement income far…
LOS ANGELES — The twice-delayed launch of a rocket carrying a reconnaissance satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County is scheduled Tuesday night, potentially giving the Southland a holiday-season aerial light show. According to United Launch Alliance, it will try again to launch the rocket at 5:57 p.m. The Delta…
At least three women say the former associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Encinitas tried to seduce them. The allegations rocked the congregation Sunday, when parishioners opened the church bulletin to find an apology from Bishop Robert McElroy “to all who were subjected…
