Month: January 2010

SACRAMENTO – California prison inmates who are in the country illegally will no longer be allowed to participate in vocational training and work programs. The Prison Industry Board says the programs should be reserved for inmates who can get California jobs after their release. A staff report says more than 400 of the 5,700 inmates

DETROIT, Mich.- Three people briefed on the matter say Toyota Motor Corp. has received clearance from federal regulators on a fix for the company’s sticky gas pedals. Two dealers said Saturday that Toyota plans to make the announcement Monday morning. One says that dealers could get parts as early as Thursday or Friday. A Department

JOSHUA TREE – Investigators have released new information in a report on a plane crash in Joshua Tree National Park. Investigators say the Cessna quickly fell hundreds of feetbefore crashing into a mountain on January 18th. A student pilot and instructor were both seriously hurt. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the planewas flying

BANNING – The Riverside County Coroner’s Officehas identified the victim of a deadly hit and run crash that occurred early Saturday morning. The police say the collision happened around 1:00 a.m. on the 4500 block of West Ramsey Street. Police found the victim, Cody Rodenbucher, 17, from Needles, dead on the side of the road.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A winter storm that has blanketed the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states with snow is moving rapidly eastward. Nearly a foot of snow has fallen in parts of western North Carolina, and nearly 10 inches has fallen in some areas north of Memphis, Tenn. The National Weather Service reports about a half-foot of

WASHINGTON – The U.S. will resume airlifting injured earthquake victims out of Haiti. The White House says it has received assurances additional medical capacity exists in the U.S. and among its international partners. According to White House spokesman Tommy Vietor, the flights are on track to resume by early Monday. The U.S. military on Wednesday

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Child welfare organizations in Haiti are calling an American church group’s plan to take children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic reckless. The 10 Baptists say they were just trying to do the right thing and save vulnerable children from the chaotic aftermath of the earthquake when they were arrested. The group

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Mexican law enforcement officials say a group of armed men stormed a party in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez Saturday night, killing 13 people and injuring about two dozen. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 20. Police officials say witnesses told them there were at least 15

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget proposal is dripping with red ink. A congressional official says the $3.8 trillion plan, which will be released tomorrow, would add up to a record-breaking $1.6 trillion budget deficit in the current fiscal year, followed by a tamer $1.3 deficit in 2011. The proposal calculates deficits over the

LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Toyota’s plan for a fix to its huge recall problem is coming Monday. The head of the automaker’s North American sales division, Jim Lentz, is scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Today” show to detail the company’s plans, which have been approved by federal regulators. Toyota yesterday used ads in newspapers to characterize

RIVERSIDE – French film gets its time to shine in Riverside this winter as the Tournees Festival returns to the UCR campus. The film festival, which was conceived as a way to help colleges shine a spotlight on French film, returns to UC Riverside Feb. 11 and will run through Feb. 25. The theme of

RIVERSIDE – A 40-year-old transient was arrested on suspicion of stabbing and killing a man near the UC Riverside campus today, police said. Richard Lockhart, 40, was arrested on suspicion of murder after witnesses said he stabbed a man shortly before 1:15 a.m. today on the 3900 block of Iowa Avenue in Riverside, according to

COACHELLA – Authorities say a teenager has died of injuries suffered during a shooting that took placeearly Sunday morningin Coachella. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says the shooting happened around 2:15 a.m. on the 50-000 block of Calle Mendoza. Deputies found the victim about a block away, on the 86-000 block of Calle Olivia. The

CENTURY CITY – Kathryn Bigelow won the top Directors Guild of America award tonight for her Iraq drama “The Hurt Locker,” becoming the first woman to do so and beating out ex-husband James Cameron and his blockbuster “Avatar.” The winner of the DGA’s best director award often goes on to win the Oscar for that

PALM DESERT – Police are making sure the streets are safer this weekend. Palm Desert Police held aDUI checkpoint that wrapped up earlySunday morning. Police screened 595 vehicles on Monterey Avenue and Magnesia Falls. A total of four people were arrested, two forDUI and two for driving with an invalid license. One vehicle was impounded.

CATHEDRAL CITY -Cathedral City Police are on the search for suspects this morning, accused of holding up two people at gunpoint. It happenedSaturday night around 11:45 on the 68800 block of Cedar Road. That’s where officers say two men held up two people at gunpoint demanding they give up their belongings. The suspects then took

KABUL, Afghanistan- NATO is promising a full investigation of a joint U.S.-Afghan force airstrike on what turned out to be an Afghan army post. Four Afghan soldiers died in the strike, which was called after Afghan soldiers opened fire on a group of U.S. Special Forces and Afghan commandos. NATO says the Afghan soldiers believed

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office is putting off a determination in the Dec. 20 death of actress Brittany Murphy while trying to gather more information about what medications she may have been taking, it was reported today. TMZ.com reported that Murphy was anemic and being treated for other conditions around the

RIVERSIDE – The brother-in-law of convicted arsonist and murderer Raymond Lee Oyler pleaded not guiltyFriday to jury tampering charges linked to Oyler’s trial. Christopher Vaughn Hillman, 47, faces seven felony counts of jury tampering and could be sentenced to seven years in state prison if convicted. He remains free on $250,000 bail. Hillman appeared before

WASHINGTON – Regulators have shut down a big bank in California, along with two banks in Georgia and one each in Florida, Minnesota and Washington. That brings to 15 the number of bank failures so far in 2010 atop the 140 shuttered last year in the punishing economic climate. The failure on Friday of Los