About L.A. Now L.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles. Have a story tip for L.A. Now? Can I call someone with news? Yes. The city desk number is (213) 237-7847. Continue reading →
Transportation officials plan to soon lock the gates to Los Angeles subways and force all commuters to pay for their ride. The subway system has operated without locked gates for years, allowing an open secret about taking a trip: you don’t really have to pay the fare. But on Thursday the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors voted to lock the gates on the Purple and Red lines by Dec. 1 and convert their ticket machines so passengers are no longer using paper. Instead, passengers will be required to buy a reusable plastic Transit Access Pass and will have to swipe the card at a turnstile to enter. Passengers taking a single trip can buy a TAP card for $1 plus the ... Continue reading →
Despite strong objections and threats of legal action, Los Angeles County transportation officials on Thursday approved a plan to tunnel beneath Beverly Hills High School as part of a long-awaited Westside subway extension from downtown to the Westwood area. Beverly Hills city and school officials had argued against digging a tunnel under the high school as part of the Purple Line extension. The $5.6-billion rail project will extend 9 miles west from the existing Purple Line station at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to the Veterans Administration hospital. It will mostly run under Wilshire except for a segment where the line veers southwest below the high school and into Century City. "The subway extension is a critically needed mobility improvement that will create a fast, ... Continue reading →
A former Long Beach high school football star convicted of raping a classmate a decade ago had his conviction dismissed Thursday after his accuser recanted her story. Brian Banks trembled with sobs after a brief hearing in which prosecutors said they had no objection to his conviction being reversed. His mother and girlfriend, seated in the courtroom, let out cries of joy. "My only dream in the world is just to be free," Banks said at a post-hearing news conference, his eyes red from crying, his face frozen in disbelief. Banks was a 17-year-old college football prospect when, in 2002, a classmate accused him of kidnapping and raping her. Banks maintained the sex was consensual, but his lawyer suggested he take a plea deal rather ... Continue reading →
Natalie Cole, right, her boyfriend and four children lived in a bedroom of a friend’s apartment until she and the friend argued. From left are boyfriend Juan Sena, goddaughter Yolanda and son Gemini. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Timeshttp://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=615420LinkCole's children play in the driveway, seen through a gate, at the building where the family lived for a time. “My mother struggled, my grandma struggled and I am struggling,” she says. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Timeshttp://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=615431LinkOn Christmas Eve, Cole’s youngest son, Jaylyn, 2, gets treatment for a severe asthma attack at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Timeshttp://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=615442LinkSena comforts Jaylyn at the hospital.PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Timeshttp://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=615453LinkCole ... Continue reading →
The search in the Verdugo Mountains for a missing FBI agent has been stopped and investigators will instead focus on tips from the public, according to Burbank police. Authorities had been actively combing the nearby mountains for 35-year-old FBI agent Stephen Ivens, who went missing from his Burbank home nearly two weeks ago. Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said Wednesday a final search was carried out over the weekend by members of the Ventura and Los Angeles County sheriff’s departments, but they came up empty. In the days after the May 11 disappearance, authorities from several agencies mounted a massive search — initially focused on the Verdugo Mountains — using helicopters, dogs and foot patrols.It took on added urgency because officials said he probably had ... Continue reading →
A gunman with a reputation for cleaning up corrupt backwater towns has taken up residence in La Cañada Flintridge, with an eye on north Glendale and the whole Crescenta Valley.A cutout of Clint Eastwood, in a pose from his 1964 Spaghetti Western “A Fistful of Dollars,” stands atop a hill near the Glendale Freeway west of Verdugo Hills Hospital. Eastwood is steps off a trail that begins near Descanso Gardens and connects with other trails and fire roads in the San Rafael Hills. Drivers on the Glendale Freeway can easily make out his silhouette.Reg Green, 83, of La Cañada Flintridge, ran into the Eastwood figure during a weekend hike earlier this month. “I was up there minding my own business and suddenly out of the ... Continue reading →
