Dennis Romero

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday appointed state Sen. Abel Maldonado to the position of Lt. Governor, an office vacated by John Garamendi, who left the job to become a U.S. Congressman. Maldonado is a Republican from Santa Maria who was born to Mexican farm workers. He helped his parents grow......

A Riverside County Animal Services officer on Monday plucked two chihuahuas who had their snouts taped closed from a canal, saving the life of one of the pooches.The dogs were discovered about 11 a.m. as they drifted against a metal grate that prevented them from going further, according to Animal......

Even as the Los Angeles Unified School District is in the midst of a historic building boom that includes the massive and still-rising campus at the site of the Ambassador Hotel in Koreatown, Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced Monday that school hiring is being put in a deep freeze. He made......

Graffiti artist Jason Williams, also known as Revok, was arrested at an exhibition of his work at a Mid-City gallery and graffiti-art store Sunday, authorities announced. The 32-year-old, described as a prolific tagger whose moniker has been spotted throughout the region, was nabbed at the 33third shop at 5111 West......

The 36-year-old daughter of Sen. John Kerry was off the hook Monday for DUI after she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Thursday in Los Angeles. Cops pulled Alexandra Kerry over about 12:40 a.m. in the Hollywood area for allegedly driving with expired registration tags and subsequently......

The deal to reopen the troubled Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital will take it from county management and put it private hands. And while you might be scratching your head justifiably, wondering why a public institution is being given away, we would point to evidence that this might just be......

Inquiring minds want to know who approved the city's involvement -- police, street closures, clean-up -- in the Michael Jackson memorial, but those minds are just going to have to wait. The City Council's Public Safety on Monday postponed its look into the memorial costs. We're told the debate could......

Out of the department of reverse discrimination, a redheaded Calabasas boy was allegedly kicked and beaten by middle school classmates who were apparently inspired by a Facebook post calling it "kick a ginger day." The action Friday was apparently inspired by an episode of South Park that satirized racial intolerance......

Five freshmen from Long Beach Poly High School were in court today to face arraignment on suspicion of misdemeanor sexual battery. They were nabbed after two ninth-grade girls accused the football and basketball team members of inappropriately touching them during a lunch break. In other words, the boys grabbed the......

Get out your bell-bottom pants. Attorney General Jerry Brown is aiming for a gubernatorial sequel, and he's tapping his old pals in Hollywood for the dough. Moguls obliged to the tune of more than $1 million at a local event over the weekend, and Brown hasn't even officially thrown his......