San Diego County

Christopher Dorner's Truck Found In Big Bear

Updated at the bottom: After a swarm of top cops searched Big Bear fruitlessly all night, authorities conceded Friday that Dorner might be anywhere. First posted at 1:14 p.m. Thursday. Headline has changed. A truck matching the one driven by Christopher Dorner, a disgraced ex-LAPD cop suspected to ... More >>

Is 'Operation Guacamole' Racist? SoCal Cops Target Latino Gang

When we got a statement from the San Diego Sheriff's Department last week regarding a crackdown it called "Operation Guacamole," we automatically assumed that it was a reference to America's favorite dip in anticipation of Sunday's Super Bowl. Nope. It's about a crackdown on ... a Latino gang. Yep. ... More >>

Los Angeles Fails When It Comes To New Year's Eve Partying

You claim you can party like a pro, but can you really? Like a lot of other things in Los Angeles, our booze-and-drug-fueled nightlife is perhaps more fantasy than reality. A new analysis of mobile location data from America's most-populous cities found that L.A. didn't even rate when it came to s ... More >>

Top 5 Beers of San Diego Beer Week: Barrel-Aged Brews, Political Beers Pasadena Sours

A wise San Diego brewer once said, "Every week in San Diego is beer week," an undeniable truth for a county with more than 60 breweries and two decades of beer culture to its fame. And still, the ten-day festival officially known as San Diego Beer Week continues to amaze palettes, concluding its 4 ... More >>

Q & A With Haven Brewing's Dave Larsen: L.A. Beer Week, New Zealand Hops Stone's First Local Collaboration

The fourth annual Los Angeles Beer Week might have officially ended with Sunday's festival at Union Station, but there's still one more special LABW brew that has yet to be released. Too bad it's not even ready to drink yet. That's because early in the morning on Thursday, Sept. 20 -- while many e ... More >>

Bath Salts in SoCal? Five Recent Freak-Outs That Signal a Zombie Apocalypse

Cops can never say for sure whether their suspect has been taking bath salts. Like "spice" (imitation marijuana), the synthetic drug is so popular because it can't be detected in urine tests. But unlike spice, which is banned across the country, only two of the 17 chemicals used to make bath salts ... More >>

Matt Weaver, Cal State Campus Editor Accused of Making Light of Rape, Arrested

A Cal State San Marcos student newspaper editor was arrested and released over the weekend for allegedly trying to rig a student election on campus, where he was running for president. But Matt Weaver isn't your run-of-the-mill student journo: He edits an unsanctioned, off-campus alternative that h ... More >>

Dunkin' Donuts Plans San Diego Branch

Dunkin' Donuts claims "America Runs on Dunkin'." Yet, its 6,772 U.S. stores are concentrated on the East Coast. An extra 2,988 are located in 30 foreign countries. Talk about false advertising. Yet, Dunkin' Donuts is now taking a step to living up to its slogan. The company has announced it will ope ... More >>

iPad Saves Christmas For 2 Families After it Reveals Location of Burglary Suspect, Stolen Presents, L.A. Sheriff's Officials Say

Bart Vis​Tracking software on a stolen iPad saved Christmas for two Southern California families this weekend, L.A. County Sheriff's officials said. In the tony community of Westlake Village a man was awaken by noise at 3:30 a.m. on Christmas, and it wasn't Santa Clause in his home, sheriff's ... More >>

Ninja Murder? Teen Dressed in Black Fatally Stabs Saskia Burke, Murrieta Valley High School Student, Cops Say

Updated at the bottom: Simpson was arrested over the weekend. First posted at 12:32 p.m. on Dec. 21. They're calling this teen an alleged ninja murderer. Police say 19-year-old William Gary Simpson Jr. entered 40025 Milkwood Lane in Murrieta at 3:55 a.m. yesterday and fatally stabbed an 18-year-ol ... More >>

New Planet Found by NASA Could be Suitable For Humans (or Aliens?): SoCal Scientists Involved in Kepler 22b's Discovery

NASA​With reporting from Simone Wilson. They're getting closer and closer to finding aliens in space, and not the kind who'll help you remodel your home for only $50 a day. And while we here in journo land are psyched to get the occasional minor scoop or a mention in LA Observed (and that al ... More >>

L.A. Farmers Markets Exposed

Often, produce sold at stalls isn't organic, grown by small farms — or even spray-free

Domingos Jose Oliveira Gets 7 Years For Threatening Daughter's Black BF With Death Via 'Wanted' Posters

​Imagine being this guy's daughter and having to tell your new black boyfriend about him: Um, he's a nice guy. He cares about me a lot. He's just a little overprotective. And, uh, oh yeah, he'll kill you if he sees us together. Southern California's Domingos Jose Oliveira was sentenced this w ... More >>

Osama Bin Laden's Soggy Remains to Be Hunted by SoCal Shipwreck Diver

ABC7Bill Warren, 69-year old American hero​Before his May 2011 takedown, Osama bin Laden was one of the most hunted men alive: Many a bounty hunter and U.S. soldier gone freelance vied for his $25 million head. And in death, turns out, the Al Qaeda mastermind is still relatively popular: Bi ... More >>

Marvin Bada, SoCal Man, Gets 20 Years For Selling Ecstasy That Led to Fatal Overdose

tributes.comLaura Evvonne Luna.​A Southern California man who sold ecstasy to a former high school classmate who later died of an overdose got 20 years behind bars. The harsh sentence was the "mandatory minimum" under a federal law that states drugs you sell to someone who then dies after usi ... More >>

Four Loko Lawsuit: Phusion Projects Sued in SoCal for Shady Sale Tactics, Asked to Refund Every Last Loko

You are getting very thirsty...​Updated after the jump: How to get your $2.75 back, if the Four Loko case is won! Months after Phusion Projects pulled their "blackout in a can" off the nation's shelves and replaced it with a watered-down, far less enticing alternative (something of a ghetto p ... More >>

L.A. County Population Grew Only 0.7 Percent Last Year -- And Yes, 'It's A Job Thing'

Tom BakerWhere have all the people gone?​Population statistics for all the economically bleeding counties of California were released yesterday by the state Department of Finance, and guess what they show: Sure enough, it's been another hard year for the state, whose total number of residents ... More >>

Marijuana Legalization Backers Claim California Youth Vote Is Turning Out To Back Prop. 19

Are young people turning up at the polls?​Updated after the jump with confirmation that some polling places near college campuses in San Diego did run out of provisional ballots. First posted at 2:17 p.m. Organizers of the campaign to legalize marijuana on Tuesday claimed that the youth vote ... More >>

Kelly Slater, The Ultimate Boy Of Summer, Could Be One Of Planet's All-Time Great Athletes

Rob Keaton​It's the first day of fall, so it's time to give a last, 2010 tribute to the boys of summer and one of surfing's greatest, Kelly Slater. After Slater marked 20 years on the pro tour over the weekend with a win at the place where he started it all, Trestles at the northern edge of Sa ... More >>

Seized

Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

LAPD Officer Arrested After Allegedly Selling $4,200 Worth Of Meth To Federal Informant

​A Los Angeles police officer was arrested on suspicion of distributing methamphetamine this week after a confidential informant set up a drug buy in San Diego County that was monitored by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego. Yoshio ... More >>

Sheriff Joe Endorses Poizner for Governor

Sheriff Joe Arpaio​When you're down by 26 points, it's time to bring out the big guns.Today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner announced that he has been endorsed by Joe Arpaio, the immigrant-busting sheriff of Maricopa County. In his effort to outflank Meg Whitman, Poizner has endo ... More >>

Toyota Blames Some Customers Who Report Sudden Acceleration

​In one of the more anticlimactic communiques from corporate America this week, Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA announced that it has formed "SMART" teams to spin claims of sudden acceleration in its vehicles and blame the victims help local law enforcement uncover the causes of sudden a ... More >>

Figuring Out Toyota's Acceleration Problems IS Rocket Science

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.​As smug as Toyota has been in declaring recent allegations of sudden-acceleration in its cars unfounded, it's wild to see U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announcing Tuesday that none other than NASA will be helping federal officials find th ... More >>

Toyota Poised To Blame Driver In San Diego Sudden-Acceleration Case

​No surprise here: Toyota's stance on the out-of-control acceleration famously experienced by a Prius driver earlier this month will mirror that of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, the auto-industry-backed congressman who's been meddling in the case (on behalf of whom?) and practically attacking the ch ... More >>

Toyota Says Nothing Wrong With Runaway Prius, Questions Driver's Story

​As expected, Toyota on Monday said its tests of an alleged runaway Prius showed that there is nothing wrong with the car. The company stated from its Torrance-based U.S. headquarters that "these findings suggest that there should be further examination of [driver James] Sikes' account." As w ... More >>

Taco Franchise Says R.I.P. To Mr. Bell

​The founder of Taco Bell passed away over the weekend, and stomachs across the land were upset over the news. Glen W. Bell, Jr., 86, died Sunday night at his home in the exclusive San Diego County enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, the Irvine company announced. He joins the chain's chihuahua mascot ... More >>

Veteran's Day Shame: Alleged War Hero Imposter Nabbed

A quick-thinking U.S. Navy commander has put an end to one alleged impersonator's war-hero fantasies on this Veteran's Day: She helped federal authorities based in Los Angeles nab a Riverside man who has allegedly been parading around in military uniforms and some of the nation's highest military me ... More >>

Esteban Nunez Case: Bad Little Suburban Boys

The son of Fabian Nunez, and his friends, face the music in Lu Santos’ killing

Fabian Nunez's Son Arrested in Slay Case

Luis Santos

Best Nitpicker: Hair Whisperer Amy Goldreyer

Queer Town: The Faithful Fast, Valley Business Opposes

Churches across California are pulling out the stops, according to a recent Associated Press report, by praying and fasting for the next 40 days for the passage of Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot measure. The faithful are reportedly planning to subsist on soup and juice, and then gather ... More >>

Heaven's Gate: The Sequel

Ten years after the 39 suicides, the sole survivor is back – and he has something urgent to tell us.

Hoping Machines

Waiting and watching with the Westly-ites

Homeless in Westwood

A shelter for vets sounds better than more car-dependent business

Greed Runs Through It

One man’s journey to the end of the Colorado River

Of Rocks, Creeks and Broom-Tailed Horses

Will California’s own wild mustangs ever return to Coyote Canyon? Should they?

Thinking Out of the Box

Inglewood’s obsession with Wal-Mart

The Big Chill

The Reagans takes a right hook

Arnold’s True Lie

Taking Down Gray

Talk of recalling unpopular governor leads to Dick Riordan and Bill Simon Jr., and many others

David Ebershoff's Pasadena

Every Woman Can: Backstage with Velvet Hammer

Cold Trail

In pursuit of L.A. terrorists

Twiddling Turbine

State faces huge energy bill because of San Onofre shutdown

A Choice Experiment

Charter schools’ hype outpaces results

Surf’s Up for Scientologists

Right and White

Why last week’s electorate does not portend the future of California politics

Drug Trials

County may resume experiments on mentally ill

Straight Time

The Battle for Drug Treatment in California Prisons