"Two firefighters and one other person were injured yesterday as a large fire pushed by strong wind gusts engulfed three buildings near San Francisco’s historic Alamo Square....
--more--"
"Writer who lied fights for Calif. law license" December 27, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — A former journalist who became the subject of a Hollywood movie after he was caught fabricating articles in the late 1990s is fighting to become a lawyer in California over the objections of a state bar committee that has judged Stephen Glass, whose ethical missteps at The New Republic and other magazines were recounted in the film “Shattered Glass’’ and an autobiographical novel, morally unfit for his new profession....
Anybody remember Jason Blair?
Turns out fabrication is what the AmeriKan media does best.
The bar association’s lawyers said in written filings that even though Glass’s transgressions occurred when he was in his 20s, his attempts at atonement were inadequate and in some cases coincided with the publication of his novel. They faulted him for never compensating anyone who was hurt by his falsehoods.
Law and journalism “share common core values - trust, candor, veracity, honor, respect for others,’’ Rachel Grunberg, a lawyer for the State Bar of California, told the Chronicle. “He violated every one of them.’’
Then my newspaper also has failed.
--more--"
Time to go underground:
"Subterranean joyride gets driver arrested" by Associated Press, January 20, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO - A man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence yesterday after allegations that he shut down San Francisco’s subway system for more than two hours by driving his SUV onto the underground tracks, police said....
--more--"
"Skydiver’s death blamed on risky landing" by Associated Press | December 29, 2011
PERRIS, Calif. - A dramatic high-speed landing maneuver known as “swooping’’ apparently caused the death of an experienced Canadian skydiver at a Southern California drop zone, authorities said yesterday.
Michael Ungar, 32, of Ontario, died Tuesday afternoon at Perris Valley Skydiving after landing hard at the Riverside County sport parachuting base about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Witnesses told Perris police and reporters that Unger’s parachute was open as he made the difficult maneuver and landed hard in a shallow pond at 2:01 p.m. Tuesday. Friends pulled him out of the water, the Riverside County coroner and Perris police said in a news release.
“It’s risky because you are moving so fast,’’ said Jim Crouch, the safety director for the Fredericksburg, Va.-based United State Parachuting Association. “A lot of jumpers choose to land this way because it’s exciting. But it’s very unforgiving.’’
Accidents occur when parachutists start the maneuver too low and the parachute doesn’t have the ability to recover, or fill with air, and float the skydiver to the ground, Crouch said.
The maneuver has become so popular there are swooping competitions at drop zones around the country, said Crouch, who describes it as “a sport within a sport.’’
--more--"
"A federal judge ordered the US government yesterday to pay $17.8 million to a family that lost four members when a Marine Corps fighter jet crashed into their San Diego home in 2008....
--more--"
"Calif. man pleads not guilty in soldier shooting" by ASSOCIATED PRESS | December 30, 2011
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A California man pleaded not guilty yesterday to attempted murder in the homecoming party shooting of an Afghanistan war veteran.
The arraignment for Ruben Ray Jurado, 19, in San Bernardino County Superior Court lasted about two minutes. He was in custody at West Valley Detention Center. He faces a Jan. 9 hearing. His bail continues at $1 million.
In addition to attempted murder, Jurado faces four sentencing enhancements.
The 22-year-old Purple Heart recipient had been recovering from injuries suffered in a December 2010 suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan. Sullivan is a member of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, an Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border....
--more--"
Related: A Hell of a Christmas
"A New Year’s Day shooting that left four people dead at a condominium near San Diego was a murder-suicide involving a 25-year-old Navy pilot who killed himself, officials said yesterday....
--more--"
Also see: 2 Navy pilots, 2 others shot dead in Calif.
"Father of killings suspect is homeless" Associated Press, January 16, 2012
YORBA LINDA, Calif. - The father of the man suspected of killing homeless men in Southern California is himself homeless and says his son last week showed him a picture of one victim as a warning of the danger of being on the streets.
Refugio Ocampo, 49, also said yesterday that his son came back a changed man after serving with the Marines in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian.
The father said he lost his job and home, and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.
Refugio Ocampo said that on Jan. 11 his son came to him with a picture of the first victim, who was killed on Dec. 20. “This is what’s happening,’’ the father quoted his son as saying.
“He was very worried about me. I told him, ‘Don’t worry. I’m a survivor. Nothing will happen to me. I will find something. Count on it,’ ’’ the father said.
His son entered the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped. Itzcoatl Ocampo was discharged in 2010 and returned home to find his family in disarray, the father said.
Yeah, these wars have been so great for everyone!
--more--"
Related: DA says suspect killed homeless for the 'thrill'
"Body parts found in Calif. identified" Associated Press, January 21, 2012
LOS ANGELES - Coroner’s officials identified the man whose dismembered head, hands, and feet were found in a Hollywood park, but they are not releasing his name as police continue to hunt for his killer, authorities said yesterday.
The identity, age, and hometown of the victim were withheld because his next of kin had not been notified, and because police investigators had placed a “security hold’’ on the information, Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said.
The head was found Tuesday by a dog walker at Bronson Canyon, and police searchers turned up the man’s hands and feet during a two-day search that ended Thursday. The park reopened yesterday.
Dozens of police searched 7 acres of brush in the park for two days after Tuesday’s discovery of a man’s head in a plastic grocery bag. Two hands and feet believed to be from the same victim were found on Wednesday and Thursday before authorities concluded the ground search.
The man is believed to have been killed elsewhere, police have said. Coroner’s officials are trying to identify the man through fingerprints, dental records, and DNA databases, police said.
--more--"
Also see: Head, other body parts found in Los Angeles park
"Mother, daughter bond after 77 years apart" January 03, 2012
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — For most of her 100 years, Minka Disbrow tried to find out what became of the baby girl she gave up for adoption after being raped as a teen. She never thought she would see her Betty Jane again.
She kept a black and white photograph of the baby bundled in blankets and tucked inside a basket. It was the last she saw of the girl — until the phone rang in her California apartment in 2006....
--more--"
"California teen sentenced for killing gay student" December 20, 2011|By Greg Risling
VENTURA, Calif. — A Southern California teenager was sentenced yesterday to 21 years in state prison for killing a gay student during a computer lab class, capping an emotional and tumultuous case that drew widespread attention and raised questions about how schools should deal with sexual identity issues....
Prosecutors contended Brandon McInerney, 17, who had just turned 14, shot 15-year-old Larry King at E.O. Green Junior High School in a fit of homophobic rage because he was offended by the victim’s feminine clothing and his unwanted sexual advances....
Wouldn't that be harassment then?
School administrators were criticized for not doing enough in the weeks leading up to the killing at the Oxnard school to quell a simmering feud between the two teens and for allowing King to wear heels and makeup. School district officials have cited federal law providing the right of students to express their sexual orientation.
King’s father, Greg King, also blamed the school district for not doing more to tone down their son’s flamboyant behavior, adding that complaints were made to school officials before the shooting.
???????????
He added that his family could not forgive McInerney.
“You took upon yourself to be a bully and to hate a smaller kid, wanting to be the big man on campus,’’ Greg King said to McInerney during the sentencing. “You have left a big hole in my heart where Larry was and it can never be filled.’’
Well, yeah, killing him was the wrong thing to do.
King’s family and Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox wore buttons with the teen’s face on it, while some of McInerney’s supporters wore powder blue wristbands that read “Save Brandon.’’ Some teachers and jurors also attended the hearing.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed McInerney as a teen who could not control his anger and was influenced by white supremacy ideology.
Here we go again!
Jurors rejected their assertion that the killing was a hate crime.
Aren't all crimes hate crimes? Who commits a loving crime? Bankers?
Prosecutors said the shooting in front of stunned classmates was first-degree murder and that McInerney should be punished as an adult.
After serving nearly four years since King’s slaying, with the additional 21 years McInerney will be released just before his 39th birthday.
--more--"
