Month: November 2014

A Los Angeles County man accused of sexually assaulting a woman while impersonating an officer has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison. The District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that 29-year-old Wesley Stepp pleaded no contest to home invasion robbery and sexual battery by restraint. He was sentenced immediately after entering the pleas. His

Virgin American shares are climbing in their trading debut. The shares opened at $27 – $4 higher than the price that the airline set – and then jumped as high as $29 in early dealings Friday on the Nasdaq stock market. The timing of the IPO by the Richard Branson-backed airline could hardly be better.

A Southern California elementary school has shut down a fundraising idea to let youngsters skip homework if their parents donate money. The Orange County Register says the concept was thought up by Project LEAP, a parent-volunteer group that raises money for Lee Elementary School in Los Alamitos. The group recently sent out fliers that said

A Downey police officer has been wounded and another man killed in a shootout during a Southern California drug investigation. Authorities say the Downey officer was with a task force that was watching a San Bernardino home Thursday afternoon. Task force members were met by gunfire when they decided to approach. San Bernardino police Lt.

Local boxer Randy Caballero is fresh off his first world championship, and now, fresh off his first venture into local business. He was approached with plenty of ideas, but one idea stood out above the rest. Caballero recalls, “one day I was sitting down with one of my, the barber that was cutting my hair,

Election day is now more than a week behind us, but votes are still being tallied and the race for Measure U, a one percent sales tax increase in Coachella, isn’t over yet. The latest numbers Thursday from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office show it’s now ahead, but by just two votes. “Since

Property assessed clean energy loans are helping homeowners go green. Over the past couple of years many homeowners are turning to Ygrene Energy Fund loans to make clean energy upgrades to their homes, and some are already starting to see some big savings on their electric bills. “Right now going through the entire summer I

Two armored truck drivers for Loomis Armored were arrested on federal charges Thursday morning, accused of stealing more than $1 million in cash from a shipment being delivered to Bank of America. Fontana resident Cesar Yanez, 37, and 28-year-old Aldo Esquivel Vega of Pomona, were arrested Thursday morning after search warrants were served at their

Prosecutors say they have grounds to charge a Southern California woman who claimed she scalded her hand with McDonald’s coffee. Thirty-eight-year-old Selena Edwards of Victorville was charged last month with 21 felony counts of insurance and worker’s compensation fraud. Authorities say Edwards falsely claimed to have received second-degree burns last year when a lid came

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said a boy who was reported missing in Yucca Valley on Wednesday has been found. Jodi Miller with the sheriff’s department said Edward Lockhart returned home Thursday afternoon and he is safe. There was no further information explaining where he was overnight. The sheriff’s department began searching for him

The Healing Field closing ceremony takes place Saturday, November 15 at noon. The community is encouraged to attend the event at Patriot Park in Cathedral City, and coordinators said they’ll need volunteers to help unload flags award. Patriot Park is located at the northeast corner of Date Palm Drive and Dinah Shore Drive. According to

Officials with the Palm Springs International Film Festival have announced that Julianne Moore will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award at its 26th annual Awards Gala. Each year the festival selects an actor and actress to receive this award. Organizers previously announced that Eddie Redmayne will be her counterpart in claiming the honor this year.

Health concerns for lead singer Boy George has Culture Club postponing its November tour, which includes a sold out show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa. The show was supposed to be the band’s first performance of its North American tour. The announcement was made just two days before the band was slated to perform

Cathedral City is gearing up for a big weekend. The 2nd annual AMFM Festival starts Thursday at 5 p.m. at Mary Pickford Theater with an opening red carpet reception and performance by Emmy award-winning actor Ed Asner. The festival runs through Sunday and will honor actor and director James Edward Olmos the final day. AMFM

Good riddance, that’s what a lot of people in Yucca Valley are saying about a taco shop owner who closed up shop a couple of weeks ago. When he closed his restaurant, he took to social media and blasted the people in town, that at one time he hoped would be his customers. James Collins

Workers in hazmat suits used a fish-killing chemical to rid a San Francisco lake of invasive species – a major step toward turning the area into a nature preserve. The San Francisco Chronicle says the carcasses of carp, goldfish, sturgeon and other species floated to the surface Wednesday, several hours after nearly 50 gallons of

The California Highway Patrol says a man being pulled over on a Los Angeles freeway suddenly made a U-turn into oncoming traffic, causing a head-on collision that killed him and another driver. CHP officer Francisco Villalobos says the crash happened shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday on the southbound 110 Freeway near downtown. Sheriff’s deputies tried

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts says the company is moving “full steam ahead” with its proposed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable despite the uncertainty raised by President Barack Obama’s call for tougher regulations on high-speed Internet service providers. As part of its commitment to getting the Time Warner deal done, Roberts says Comcast Corp.

An independent think tank says financial aid and scholarships have largely spared students from low and some middle-income families from shouldering the cost of recent tuition increases at the University of California and California State University. The Public Policy Institute of California said in a report issued Wednesday that even though in-state tuition increased an

Open enrollment begins Saturday for the Affordable Care Act, the second time Americans will have a chance to sign up for health insurance under what has become known as Obamacare. President Barack Obama has promised the national health exchange will run a lot smoother this time around, but that won’t affect us here in California,