Author: Shelby Grad

In December, Brown spoke out about the attack, saying he was "hurting inside"
over what he did, but he insisted he was not a violent person.

"I was wrong for what I did," Brown told ABC News. "And I would definitely say that
it’s not something that I look past or look over. Something that’s
really, really touchy. And, and like I said, I’m — I’m really sorry
for — for what went down. And what happened."

— Shelby Grad

Photo: Los Angeles Times file

The California Medical Board has issued an order preventing Michael Jackson’s doctor from administering heavy sedatives.

Conrad Murray "was placed on restrictions/limitations on his medical
practice as follows: restricted from using any anesthetic agent,
specifically propofol, nor prescribe it, and not administer any other
heavy sedative medications that should generally be administered by any
anesthesiologist and may not sedate people personally," the board said in a statement. "This order is to cover the state of California, Texas, Nevada, Hawaii and anywhere
else Dr. Murray may be currently licensed in the United States."

Los Angeles prosecutors this month filed involuntary
manslaughter charge against Murray, a cardiologist hired to
care for Jackson during the pop star’s ambitious comeback attempt last
year. Murray pleaded not guilty.

Officials allege Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of the operating-room anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

"I don’t want you sedating people," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz told Murray at the court hearing.

— Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Shelby Grad

Photo credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

A party thrown by UC San Diego fraternity students mocking Black History Month has school administrators up in arms.

UC San Diego officials are condemning the off-campus weekend
ghetto-themed party, but they aren’t likely to discipline anyone, according to Fox 5 News in San Diego.

The so-called Compton Cookout event urged all participants to wear
chains, don cheap clothes and speak very loudly, the San Diego Union-Tribune
reported. Female participants were encouraged to be "ghetto chicks.”

Read the full story here.

In response to an increase in fatal shootings by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies, Sheriff Lee Baca today will announce a revised policy aimed at reducing violent confrontations between deputies and suspects.

Under the new policy, deputies will be encouraged to contain suspects and wait for back up rather than immediately confronting and attempting to arrest them.

"When dealing with a perceived armed suspect, sworn members shall be
cautiously persistent in performing their duties,” the policy states.
“Consistent with this philosophy, while every situation is not
absolute, in many cases, it may be safer to chase to contain rather
than chase to apprehend.”

The policy change is important because it is a key factor in how the
department decides whether a deputy acted appropriately during a
shooting.

Deputies fatally shot 16 people in 2009 compared to nine in 2008.

The new containment approach stems from an expert panel Baca convened in September to address what deputies should do if a person they believe is armed runs from them.

That panel of veteran training officers was convened after a series of much-publicized deputy-involved shootings during chases. One of those killings involved a deputy shooting a 36-year unarmed man through a gate during a foot pursuit.

The man, it was later learned, was not the robbery suspect deputies were seeking.
The new deadly-force policy will be announced later today by Baca.

According to a copy of the proposed policy change, it is intended to keep deputies from placing themselves in harm’s way or putting anyone else in jeopardy.

–Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Sheriff Lee Baca Credit: Los Angeles Times

Browse the Times’ Homicide Report map to learn more about fatal officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County since January 2007.

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Crews working to repair broken main in Studio City that left 30 customers without water

Small plane crashes in East Palo Alto

Newport Beach estate goes on the market for $30 million

L.A. County ranks 26th of 56 in new health study; Orange County in top 10

Coast Guard boat that killed 8-year-old boy was going too fast, lawsuit says

To hear listing agent Jason Morrison tell it, the view from 3729 Ocean Blvd. alone is worth nearly $30 million.



The
7,000-square-foot mansion, called Crown of the Sea, is on the market
for $29,995,000. Built into a seaside cliff in Corona del Mar, the home
has panoramic views of Catalina Island, Newport Harbor and Little
Corona Beach.

Noted Newport
Beach architect Brion Jeannette designed the home near the corner of
Poppy Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. Construction began in
1997 and was completed in 2000.

The architect also designed the 30,000-square-foot Corona del Mar
mansion known as the Portabello Estate, which has been valued as high
as $75 million. The Portabello features an automobile museum, movie
theater and bowling alley, among other amenities.

Read the full story here.

— Brianna Bailey, from the Daily Pilot

Photo credit: Daily Pilot

A lawsuit filed in San Diego alleges a Coast Guard vessel that slammed into a boat last year during a Christmas boat parade, killing an 8-year-old boy, was traveling at a dangerous rate of speed.

The suit was filed Tuesday on behalf of those inside the pleasure boat and comes as federal officials are trying to determine what caused the crash, which injured several people on the boat.

The accident cast a grim shadow over San
Diego’s annual Christmas tradition, which features fireworks and scores
of boats with holiday lights and decorations.

The boy, Anthony Cole DeWeese of San Diego, was pronounced dead shortly
after the crash, and five people, including two children, were
injured.

Coast Guard officials declined to provide specifics
about the collision, saying it was under investigation.

The DeWeeses and two other families are seeking unspecified damages from the federal government in
the negligence and wrongful-death suit.

The boy’s
father, Alan DeWeese, 44, said he believed the 33-foot Coast Guard
vessel was going at a high rate of speed.

Witness Mark Sromalla told The Times that he saw the Coast Guard boat moving through San Diego Bay moments before the crash and believed it was going too fast.

"The speed was incredible," he said. "Even
if there was a life-threatening emergency, I’m not sure you would want
to go that fast with that many boats" crowded in the water.

— Shelby Grad

Photo: Anthony Cole DeWeese. Credit: Fox 5 San Diego

The wife of an Olympic medalist found shot to death last year pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges on Tuesday.

The shooting death of former Olympic shot-putter Dave Laut stunned the community. Authorities first though it was a robbery. But last week, detectives arrested his wife on suspicion of gunning him down at their Oxnard home.

Jane Laut, 52, was taken into custody Saturday and remains in
Ventura County jail on a $3-million bond, said her attorney, Ron
Bamieh. He claimed she had been a longtime victim of
domestic abuse.

Laut, 52, was killed by multiple gunshots outside his home around
midnight on Aug. 27. Jane Laut initially told police that they had heard
noises in the backyard and that her husband was slain when he went to
investigate.

In a statement issued after her arrest, Laut’s attorney acknowledged
that his client was the shooter. But she killed her husband in
self-defense during a violent argument in which an intoxicated Laut
threatened to shoot her, their 10-year-old son and their two dogs, Bamieh said.

Jane Laut was able to wrestle the gun away from an intoxicated Dave Laut
when the fight moved to their back patio and he lost his balance,
Bamieh said. One shot was fired during the struggle, the attorney said,
and as she was getting back up she  “emptied the gun.”

Friends and former competitors praised Dave Laut as a man of honor and
integrity, and a world-class athlete who returned to his humble Oxnard
roots to teach. Jane Laut took care of their modest home in Oxnard,
where they lived for nearly two decades.

— Catherine Saillant and Shelby Grad

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

L.A. schools chief Cortines calls for unity amid crisis and a culture of no excuses

Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates battling bladder cancer

Pasadena becomes latest city to debut bike plan

Fires in Sepulveda Pass bring 405 traffic to a crawl

Early morning blaze in South L.A. destroys residential building

Anaheim business owner caught between city laws and taggers

Several fires broke out this morning next to the 405 Freeway near Getty Center Drive.

The fires were burning near the right shoulder of the northbound freeway, and firefighters were on scene.

No homes were immediately threatened, but the northbound traffic lanes were closed for about half an hour, causing a significant backup, officials said.

It’s unclear what caused the fires, but the Los Angeles Fire Department said the blazes had been brought under control by about 11:45 a.m.

–Amina Khan

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

L.A. schools chief Cortines calls for unity amid crisis and a culture of no excuses

Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates battling bladder cancer

Pasadena becomes latest city to debut bike plan

Early morning blaze in South L.A. destroys residential building

Anaheim business owner caught between city laws and taggers

Director Kevin Smith’s dispute with Southwest Airlines after his removal from a plane over the weekend in Oakland touches on what for years has been a hot-button issue in the airline world: Should obese passengers be required to purchase two seats?

Southwest is one of numerous airlines that requires passengers who can’t fit comfortably into a single seat to purchase a second seat. Some passengers have hailed this policy, saying it’s unfair to them to sit next to someone who takes up part of their seat.

But there have been legal challenges and protests over such policies. Last month, Air France came under criticism for asking obese passengers to pay 75% of the costs of a second seat, forcing the airline to clarify its policy. Critics argued the plan discriminated against people because of their weight.

United Airlines started charging obese passengers for a second seat last year. According to airline officials, United has received more than 700 complaints from passengers saying obese passengers  encroached on their seats.

In Canada, the government and courts have ruled that airlines must provide "clinically obese" passengers with an extra seat for no charge. Supporters of the policy said it will allow more disabled people to travel.

In the case of Smith, the director was outraged that he was told by airline employees to leave the
plane even though he insisted that he fit in his seat.

"I know I’m fat, but was [the airline] really justified in throwing
me off a flight for which I was already seated?" he wrote. "I broke no
regulation, offered no safety risk."

Smith said the incident took place Saturday and that he was eventually able to make it to L.A. on another Southwest flight.

Southwest issued an apology to Smith on its Twitter feed. "We are
sincerely sorry for your travel experience on Southwest Airlines," the
airline said in a statement.

What do you think? Should obese passengers pay for two seats? Or is that discrimination? Share your view.

–Shelby Grad

On the golf course a little undercounting is not unheard of as players shave a stroke or two from this hole or that one to make their score more bearable back at the clubhouse.

But at the tiny clubhouse in Brentwood, two employees of a golf course operated by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center may have made the biggest score of all – by undercounting greens fees and concessionaire profits and pocketing thousands of dollars, authorities say.

The two have been fired and are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to theft of government funds from the popular links.
Course starter Christopher Spelio, 62, of Inglewood and co-worker Brian Clark, 36, of Santa Monica, were caught after VA police placed surveillance equipment in the small World War II-era Quonset hut that serves as the nine-hole course’s clubhouse, according to authorities.

Police were tipped off by other course employees who suspected that the pair were embezzling cash, according to VA officials.
Investigators indicated that the systematic stealing could have been going on for as long as six years, with the loss totaling $180,000. Others have suggested that as much as $200,000 in user fees might have been taken.

Although disabled military veterans play for free, other veterans pay $6 per round. The public can play for $12 on a space-available basis.
That has made the par-three course at the back of the VA’s sprawling grounds north of Wilshire Boulevard a popular destination for Westside golfers, particularly those just learning the game. 

So there was widespread dismay last March 30 when officials padlocked the seven-acre course and declared it off-limits to all but the medical center’s patients who use it for doctor-prescribed therapy.
At first, the VA attributed the shutdown to “scheduling” issues.

Later, officials acknowledged that apparent financial improprieties were to blame.
Neither Spelio nor Clark could be reached for comment Monday.
Doug Carver, the special agent in charge of criminal investigations for the VA Office of Inspector General’s western field office, said the men entered misdemeanor guilty pleas in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The case was handled by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office for the federal government.

— Bob Pool

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s cameo on "All My Children" will air this Wednesday, ABC has announced.

The stunt, aimed at welcoming the long-running soap opera’s move from New York to Los Angeles, involves the mayor meeting Susan Lucci’s character, Erica Kane. 

The exact plot has not been released, but ABC offered this preview: "Villaraigosa also appears as himself, crossing paths with Erica Kane at Confusion, the local hot spot that is owned in part by Erica Kane. The two will have a back story of having previously met at a charity event in L.A. the year before."

Councilman Eric Garcetti is also going to appear on the show. His episode will air Tuesday, ABC said.

"All My Children’s" is now shot at Andrita Studios in Los Angeles.

According to City News Service, there is something of a tradition of L.A. mayors appearing on TV:

–Sam Yorty appeared on the CBS comedy “Here’s Lucy” in 1972

–Tom Bradley on a 1988 episode of the Fox Broadcasting and Showtime comedy, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show”

–Richard Riordan on a 1999 episode of ABC’s “It’s Like, You Know…” 

–Shelby Grad

Photo: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (L.A. Times file); Susan Lucci (Associated Press)

The latest idea for easing the Los Angeles Unified School District’s financial crisis might actually be popular  — with elementary school students.

Supt. Ramon C. Cortines proposed Friday cutting six days from the school year to help reduce an estimated $640-million deficit and avoid the need for widespread layoffs in the nation’s second-largest school system.

The Times’ Jason Song reports Cortines’ proposal is somewhat unexpected. Cortines has repeatedly said that he did not want to shorten the school year.

Officials said the reduction would save the district $90 million and could spare up to 5,000 jobs.

"Do I think [this] is good education policy? No," Cortines said. "But we are in a real crisis."

What do you think? Share your views below.

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Newport Beach will have about $8 million less to spend in the coming
fiscal year because of slumping tax revenue.

Although
the economy is slowly recovering from the recession, Newport Beach will
continue to cope with the effects of shrinking tax revenue for
some time, City Manager David Kiff said.



“The bleeding has stopped, but the patient is still recovering,” Kiff said.

Newport Beach experienced an 18% decline in sales tax revenue in the last fiscal year, according to a city report.

The
downward trend has continued into this fiscal year — with sales
tax revenue slumping an additional 8.4% compared with the previous
year. Hotel occupancy taxes are down 23%, according to the report.

Read the full story here.

–Brianna Bailey

Photo: L.A. Times file

Director Kevin Smith has sparked a debate about airline policies toward obese passengers after he says he was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank this weekend for being too heavy.

The "Clerks" director sent out a series of Twitter messages detailing the events and expressing outrage that he was told by airline employees to leave the plane even though he insisted that he fit in his seat.

"I know I’m fat, but was [the airline] really justified in throwing me
off a flight for which I was already seated?" he wrote. "I broke no
regulation, offered no ‘safety risk.’ "

Smith said the incident took place Saturday and that he was eventually able to make it to L.A. on another Southwest flight.

Southwest is one of many airlines that require overweight customers to purchase two seats if they cannot comfortably fit into one seat. The airline determines this in part based on a passenger’s ability to lower both armrests while sitting on the
plane.

Smith insisted he could lower both armrests.

Southwest issued an apology to Smith on its Twitter feed. "We are sincerely sorry for your travel experience on Southwest Airlines," the airline added in a statement.

An organization called the National Assn. to Advance Fat Acceptance has called for a boycott of Southwest.

But Southwest said the weight policy has been in place for 25 years.

"The policy requires passengers that cannot fit safely and comfortably in one seat to purchase an additional
seat while traveling," the airline said in a statement. "This policy is not unique to Southwest Airlines
and it is not a revenue generator. Most, if not all, carriers have
similar policies, but unique to Southwest is the refunding of the
second seat purchased [if the flight does not oversell], which is
greater than any revenue made."

— Shelby Grad

The National Weather Service has issued a high surf alert for Los Angeles and Ventura county beaches for Sunday, but the conditions won’t be as bad as those that struck a Northern California surf event Saturday.

Surf is forecast to build to 7 to 9 feet, with some swells as high as 10 feet.

Riptide conditions are also forecast, "making swimming hazardous for even the most experienced swimmers," according to the Weather Service.

The alert is scheduled to end at 9 p.m., with the height of the surf subsiding gradually through the day.

The Southern California waves are significantly smaller than those that hit Northern California on Saturday.

At the Mavericks Surf tournament near Half Moon Bay, waves of up to 20 feet injured about a dozen spectators, some of whom were treated for broken bones.

Waves knocked out barricades and a spectator platform.

— Shelby Grad

Photo: Bystanders scramble as a wave washes over the beach during the
Mavericks Surf Contest on Saturday in Pillar Point,
Calif. Credit: Chad Ziemendorf / Associated Press

In a new twist in a Ventura County mystery, Oxnard police have arrested the wife of former Olympic medalist David Laut in connection with his slaying last year.

Laut, a bronze medalist in the shot-put at the 1984 Olympics, was shot several times in the head on Aug. 28 and found in the backyard of his Oxnard home.

According to a statement from Oxnard police, Jane Laut was arrested on suspicion of homicide on Saturday.

"The arrest this morning of Mrs. Laut took place during a traffic stop near the intersection of 3rd and F streets," the statement said. "She was taken into custody without incident." 

Police said an arrest warrant for Jane Laut had been issued recently. She was booked into Ventura County jail, and bail was set at $3 million, according to the police statement. No motive was cited. 

Authorities originally believed David Laut had been shot when confronting burglars in his backyard.

Police called to the scene found him lying in the side yard of his
tidy beige-and-white stucco home, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Laut
was athletic director at nearby Hueneme High School, a post he took a
year ago, said Principal Adrian Palazuelos. Before that, he served for
eight years as track coach at Hueneme High, and then left for one year
to take a coaching job at a school in Ventura.

Laut’s late father was a longtime science teacher at Hueneme High, Palazuelos said.

— Shelby Grad

Photo: Tony Duffy / Getty Images

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent more than $34
million in a legal battle with one of America’s largest contractors —
even though the most the transit agency could win in damages would be
about half that sum.

The case has dragged on for 15 years, with new hearings set to begin in coming weeks.

With
the agency now considering fare increases and service cuts, some
officials are calling for an audit of the expenditures and wonder if
the lawsuit represents a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Many MTA
board members disagree, saying contractor Tutor-Saliba tried to cheat
the agency out of millions of dollars by submitting a low bid and then
asking for dozens of change orders and other requests that dramatically
increased the price of constructing parts of the Red Line subway.

They
argue that the lawsuit is about more than recovering money. If the MTA
wins, they say, it will send a message to other contractors doing work
for the agency. It could also give the MTA and other public agencies
the ammunition to dismiss Tutor-Saliba from future bidding processes
even if the company submits the lowest bid for a project.

Read the full story here.

— Ari B. Bloomekatz

Photo: Red Line subway. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of
the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate
of those who live farther away, a study has found.

The paper is the
first to link automobile and truck exhaust to the progression of
atherosclerosis — or the thickening of artery walls — in humans. The
study was conducted by researchers from USC and UC Berkeley, joined by
colleagues in Spain and Switzerland, and was published this week in the
journal PloS ONE.

Researchers
used ultrasound to measure the wall thickness of the carotid artery in
1,483 people who lived within 100 meters, or 328 feet, of Los Angeles
freeways. Taking measurements every six months for three years, they
correlated their findings with levels of outdoor particulates — the
toxic dust that spews from tailpipes — at the residents’ homes.

They
found that artery wall thickness accelerated annually by 5.5
micrometers — one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair — or more
than twice the average progression in study participants.

The findings show, according to co-author Howard N. Hodis, director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at
USC’s Keck School of Medicine, “that environmental factors may play a
larger role in the risk for cardiovascular disease than previously
suspected.”

Read the full story at Greenspace, The Times’ environment blog.

— Margot Roosevelt

Photo: Cars hit a bottleneck as they emerge from the 710 Freeway in Alhambra. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

The flat-roofed homes look like something out of a Rat Pack movie.

Wooden beams, walls of glass, concrete floors, central courtyards, open layouts and expansive backyards with pool. 

There are tracts of Eichler homes around California — and in recent years, they have become a favorite of the architecturally minded looking for that midcentury modern look.

This week, the L.A. City Council named a tract in Granada Hills as a preservation zone.

"This is very significant," Ken Bernstein, director of
the city Office of Historic Resources, told the Daily News. "Balboa Highlands is the first
Valley postwar neighborhood to achieve historic district status…. It is, in many ways, a coming of age in the Valley."

Most preservation zones in L.A. focus on older neighborhoods. But there has been more attention focused in recent years in protecting midcentury architecture as well. 

According to Curbed L.A., "the Granada Hills area is now the 25th preservation overlay zone in the Los Angeles, and the 3rd in the Valley."

Read more about the history of Eichler homes here. Check out a Times photo gallery here.

–Shelby Grad

Photo: Geraro Molina / L.A. Times