Free Republic

Former Bell, CA City Manager Robert Rizzo, after a March DUI arrestIn a press conference moments ago, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley announced charges against the eight Bell, California city officials who were arrested today after they inflated their salaries, allegedly using around $5.5 million in public funds. Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, who allegedly banked close to $800,000 a year, was charged with "53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest," according to the Los Angeles Times.According to the Times, "Angela Spaccia, former assistant city manager; Mayor Oscar Hernandez; councilmembers George Mirabal, Teresa...

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown should quickly ask a judge to remove authority from the scandal-plagued Bell City Council and hand over management of day-to-day affairs to a court-appointed independent official, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said Tuesday.Such an action against an elected city council may be unprecedented and would move the state into uncharted legal territory.The motion was approved 4-0, wth Supervisor Michael Antonovich absent.It was written before Tuesday morning's arrest of eight current and former Bell city officials, which raised serious questions of how to effectively run the tiny, working-class city of 40,000 people in southeast...

Idyllwild, Calif. (AP) -- Researchers have released dozens of tadpoles into a Riverside County stream in hopes of reviving a frog species endangered in the region. San Diego Zoo officials say zoo researchers bred the 36 mountain yellow-legged frog tadpoles that were released Tuesday into a stream near the town of Idyllwild. The mountain yellow-legged frog is on the federal Endangered Species List in Southern California and has recently been proposed for listing under the California Endangered Species Act.

The average temperature in July was 79 degrees, five degrees below normal, and the first eight days of this month also have been five to six degrees below normal, weather experts said That could put Southern California on track for a near-record-low summer, but it's still too early to say, according to weather experts. The Los Angeles area, in fact, has had below-normal temperatures every month since April. On Monday forecasters were monitoring a high-pressure system developing to the north that could swing over Southern California by Sunday and heat things into the mid-90s in some inland areas, she said....

Caltrans apologized Tuesday for covering a mural of an American flag on Interstate 680 last week, a move that triggered howls of indignation and inspired two men to repaint it, and the agency said it will meet with the original artists to create another mural. "Caltrans regrets the removal of the flag mural," Caltrans spokesman Matt Rocco said in a prepared statement. "The department will work with the artists and local community to discuss the department's current permitting process for transportation art with the goal of placing another mural at a suitable location." It cost $1,324.67 in labor, equipment and...

CHP investigators have arrested a 40-year-old cable TV installer in connection to the series of sniper attacks on Inland Empire Freeways. For weeks now, someone has been shooting out the rear windows of SUVs on the freeway. On Thursday, CHP investigators said they caught the suspect red-handed as he shot at an Escalade as he drove along Interstate 15 at the 38 in Wrightwood. The suspect has been identified as William Frye of Hesperia. His gray Toyota Tundra has been impounded along with several weapons. The seven-week shooting spree damaged more than 70 vehicles. Frye now faces up to 70...

An earthquake has rocked Southern California, shaking the Los Angeles area and forcing a halt to the Toronto Blue Jays-San Diego Padres game in San Diego. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-5.7 quake was centered five miles southeast of Ocotillo near the U.S.-Mexico border. It struck Monday at about 9:30 PDT. The quake was initially reported as a magnitude-5.9 temblor.

Did you feel it! San Diego

Voodoo Used to Influence Outcome of Mortgage Fraud Case Ruben Hernandez, 34, California, owner of Downey Motorcars, and co-defendant Joel Rodriguez, 45, a California resident, owner of Coast to Coast Mortgage, were sentenced in a mortgage fraud case. Hernandez and Rodriguez were convicted by a jury on May 6, 2010. Hernandez was found guilty of four counts of filing a false application and three counts of grand theft. He received a 12 year sentence. Rodriguez was convicted of six counts of filing a false application and five counts of grand theft. He received a 12 year, 8 month sentence. Hernandez...

Appropriately revered west coast burger chain In-N-Out Burger is making an unprecedented expansion into Dallas, Texas. The chain has infamously not expanded beyond the Western states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, as In-N-Out trucks in its meat from a central facility and has resisted reorganizing that structure in order to accomodate farther reaching locations (for a visual explanation of the process, see this graphic at the Orange County Register).

Hemet could become one of the first California cities to formally support Arizona's immigration law. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to direct city staff to craft a resolution backing the law. The Arizona law requires police officers during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" to detain people they reasonably suspect are in the country without authorization and to verify their status with federal officials. It is scheduled to take effect in August. Federal efforts to reform immigration law have repeatedly collapsed, leading states to attempt their own legislation as they experience spikes in illegal immigrants and related costs....

KTLA NewsSoCal Experiencing Surge in Earthquake Activity 70 quakes greater than a magnitude 4.0 have struck the region this year -- more than any year in the past decade. KTLA News 11:08 AM PDT, April 13, 2010 LOS ANGELES -- Southern California, along with Baja California, has seen a surge in moderate earthquake activity this year and scientists are trying to figure out what's causing the uptick. There have been 70 quakes greater than a magnitude 4.0 so far this year. That's the most of any year in the last decade -- and, it's only April. There were 30...

...LATE SEASON STORM SYSTEM TO IMPACT EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY...A STORM SYSTEM WHICH ORIGINATED IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE THROUGH EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY. THIS WILL BRING A PERIOD OF RAIN TO THE REGION AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN SOME AREAS. SNOW AND FOG WILL BE EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER WILL OCCUR IN ALL AREAS.RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM ONE-HALF TO ONE INCH WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS WITH ONE TO TWO INCHES ON THE SOUTH AND WEST FACING MOUNTAIN SLOPES. LOCAL AMOUNTS COULD EXCEED TWO INCHES ON THE...

Very large Earthquake in San Diego...lasted a long time.

Wow...that was a good shake...it went on for quite a while. Everybody ok?

MEXICO CITY — Federal police have arrested Mexico's so-called "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running hundreds of pounds of heroin into Southern California each year, authorities said Thursday. Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan on Wednesday and is being held for prosecution, said Ramon Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal police. Medina, 36, ran a complex smuggling operation that hauled 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of heroin each month across the Mexican border in Tijuana for La Familia drug cartel, Pequeno said. The White House...

A strong storm slams into the West Coast tonight and tomorrow bringing heavy rain and mountain snow. Kate Bilo and Ken Clark discuss this powerful system.

Foothill areas north of Los Angeles are under a flash flood watch as another winter storm approaches, threatening burn areas with more mudslides and prompting mandatory evacuations for hundreds of homes. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to drop between 1/3 of an inch to 2 inches of rain starting Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday night, said forecasters with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Though the storm will be patchy and "showery," forecasters said it could dump more than a half-inch of rain an hour in some areas. Los Angeles County authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders Monday night for more than...

FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ORANGE COUNTY...THE INLAND EMPIRE...ANDTHE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS BELOW 5000 FEET THROUGH TONIGHT... .A COLD...COMPACT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL TRACK SOUTHWARD JUST OFFTHE CALIFORNIA COAST TODAY...MOVING INLAND ACROSS NORTHERN BAJATONIGHT. THIS WILL BRING PERIODS OF LOCALLY MODERATE PRECIPITATIONTHROUGH TONIGHT WITH PERIODS OF HIGH INTENSITY RAINFALL FROMTHUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVIER SHOWERS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOONTHROUGH TONIGHT.**************************************** PERIODS OF MODERATE RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT ON TOP OF SOIL NEARLY SATURATED FROM RECENT RAINFALL. PERIODS OF HIGH INTENSITY RAINFALL LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FROM THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVIER SHOWERS COULD INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING.

..FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOONTHROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON... THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR * A PORTION OF SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS...ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS...RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE...SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS AND SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. * FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON * RAINFALL RATES COULD EXCEED ONE HALF INCH PER HOUR AT TIMES DURING THE STORM...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTH FACING SLOPES AND NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. THIS WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCAL FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS...AND PERIODS OF...