KPCC: Stories by Debra Baer

Family of Scott Dekraai's ex-wife sues for damages

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:02:12 -0700

A flier posted outside of the salon shows Michelle Fournier, left, the suspect's ex-wife. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

The family of alleged gunman Scott Dekraai’s ex-wife is suing him for damages relating to her death in a mass shooting at a Seal Beach salon last month.

The former husband of Michelle Fournier is in an Orange County jail awaiting arraignment on eight counts of murder. Prosecutors allege that a fierce custody battle over Scott Dekraai’s 8-year-old son prompted a shooting rampage at the hair salon where Fournier worked.

He’s accused of killing her and seven others and critically wounding an older woman.

Fournier’s parents’ wrongful death lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It asks for money to cover the cost of the woman’s funeral, for the support and the education of her son and for the family’s loss of their daughter.

Authorities are holding Dekraai without bail. The court has appointed the Orange County public defender’s office to represent him.

Public officials urge parents to vaccinate for measles

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:16:42 -0700

Public officials are urging parents to have their children vaccinated for measles. Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

The state of California leads the nation in a measles outbreaks. Already, 28 cases have been confirmed so far this year, seven of which were in Los Angeles County.

Most of the individuals were exposed while traveling to foreign countries or from contact with visitors from overseas.

Dr. Robert Kim-Farley is director of communicable disease control and prevention in L.A. County. He says the quickly spreading disease was eradicated in the U.S. a decade ago, but infections started to rise sharply last year.

"We’re trying raise awareness to make sure that people to realize the importance of vaccination," he said.

"The vaccine can be given between 12 and 15 months of age, better to give it towards the 12 months of age. Get your child vaccinated early so they have their protection early."

Measles is a respiratory disease that spreads through coughing and sneezing. After being exposed, a person is highly contagious four days before a distinctive rash appears, and four days after. In some cases, the disease can lead to death.

Dangerous Asian tiger mosquito discovered in San Gabriel Valley

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:56:04 -0700

The Aedes albopictus mosquito, also known as the Asian Tiger Mosquito, has been found to spread West Nile Virus. Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The San Gabriel Valley is host to a potentially dangerous new pest. Public vector control officials are trying to eradicate a newfound Asian mosquito in El Monte. The insect is known to transmit deadly diseases.

The Asian tiger mosquito is linked to the first continental United States outbreak of dengue fever since the 1940s in Texas and Florida. Researchers say it also transmits the usually fatal yellow fever and viruses that cause encephalitis.

The Asian tiger mosquito hasn’t been spotted in California since a decade ago, when the importers of “Lucky Bamboo” plants accidentally transported it here.

Ken Fujioka says it’s not hard to spot this mosquito. "It bites during the day," Fujioka says. "It is a small black mosquito with very distinctive white bands on it. It is a very quick flier. It is an aggressive biter. So if anyone is being bitten by a black striped mosquito during the day, they should call our district. We will get out there as soon as we can."

Fujioka, who works with a public mosquito control agency, says Southern California eradicated the pest from Southeast Asia a decade ago and L.A. County officials are confident they can remove it from the region again.

Crews are going door-to-door near where the insect was found. They’re scheduled to apply pesticide late this week.

The mosquito breeds in small pools of water — even in asphalt crevices. So officials are asking people in the San Gabriel Valley to store buckets and other containers upside down.

California hospitals fined for killing, injuring patients

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:04:47 -0700

File photo: Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center Credit: Michael Smith/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

State health regulators fined a dozen California hospitals Wednesday for medical mistakes that injured or killed patients. Three of the hospitals are in Los Angeles County; one is in Riverside. Each faces $50,000 fines.

"We believe that these penalties raise the awareness in the health care industry," said Pam Dickfloss. Dickfloss works for the state's Center for Health Care Quality, the agency that issues the penalties.

Many of the fines were the result of patients having objects, like sponges and surgical instruments, left inside of them after an operation. Others were for wrongly administered medications.

Regulators fined California Riverside Community Hospital because its surgical staff left a metal clamp inside a patient's stomach.

Torrance Memorial Medical Center staff left a bottle of lens defogging fluid inside a patient during an operation to remove a kidney.

At Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, a man died from injuries after he fell out of his wheelchair, regulators say. This was the hospital's second administrative penalty.

L.A. County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights was fined for the fourth time. A burn patient there scheduled for a skin graft sustained neurological damage after an unsupervised nurse-administered anesthesia.

"It's got the attention of the hospitals," Dickfloss said. "They're incorporating best practices. They're sharing information with other hospitals and so we have every expectation that these are going to decrease over time."

Fines were also issued to facilities in counties including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and others.

Dickfloss said the center's data indicate that confirmed hospital errors have declined by about 12 percent in the last four years.

California Department of Public Health spokesman Al Lundeen says the hospitals have 10 days to appeal the fines.

Long Beach council members to offer alternative to austerity budget

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:00:00 -0700

The Long Beach City Council is facing tough choices with little more than a week to close a $20 million deficit and approve a new budget. At their meeting Tuesday night, some council members will offer an alternative.

In recent weeks council members have gotten an earful from residents at hearings about looming cuts to city staff and services. Just about every department would take a hit – from parks to fire and police. The police alone could lose more than 30 officers.

Three council members will try to convince their colleagues to adopt an idea they say could spare the city some pain. They want to use a $15.5 million surplus in the city’s oil revenue fund to soften the blow to the public safety, library and parks budgets.

Critics say that the city's oil money’s been earmarked for capital improvements and that the council shouldn’t rely on it to solve the deficit. Council members have until September 15th to decide whether the city can afford not to.

Hacker gets six years for sexual cyber terrorism

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:23:20 -0700

A web cam perched on top of a computer. Credit: Magan Crane/AFP/Getty Images

A California computer hacker has been sentenced to six years in prison for hacking into women and teen age girl's computers to obtain sexually illicit photos.

Los Angeles U.S. District Judge George King said Thursday that the crimes by the 32-year-old Luis Mijangos inflicted great emotional distress on the women he targeted. King called the defendant's crimes a form cyber terrorism.

Mijangos pleaded guilty to one count each of computer hacking and wiretapping in March 2011. He faced a maximum 10-year sentence.

Authorities say Mijangos sent a virus to more than 100 computers and was able to read victims' emails, watch them through their webcams and trick them into taking nude photos by posing as their boyfriends.

Investigators say Mijangos followed through on his threat in at least one instance by posting naked pictures of one of his victims online.

Nurses issue strike notification at Lynwood hospital

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:16:01 -0700

St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood Credit: Laurie Avocado/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

Contract negotiations have broken down between nurses and management at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. The nurses now plan to walk off the job for three days.

The two sides have been bargaining unsuccessfully since May on a new contract. A spokeswoman for the nurses union says the hospital’s last offer failed to address two key issues: an underfunded pension plan and short staffing, especially in the emergency room.

St. Francis is one of the few ERs still serving South LA, Lynwood and nearby cities since King-Drew Medical Center closed four years ago. The nurses voted Tuesday to strike from Sept. 12-14.

In a statement, St. Francis Medical Center managers said they were disappointed that the nurses called a strike vote. But they also said the Catholic hospital will be fully operational during the strike, and is committed to continue negotiating with the nurses in good faith.

Customs official says gypsy moth discovery a close call

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:18:42 -0700

Adult gypsy moth. Credit: Image courtesy U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

A cargo ship from Kobe, Japan that had been ordered back into international waters by Southern California customs officials because of an Asian gypsy moth infestation has been declared free of the pest after being treated.

U.S. Customs inspectors boarded the cargo container ship at the Los Angeles-Long Beach seaport last Monday for a routine look around. They found signs of infestation that included a dead moth and masses of moth eggs in several areas of the ship.

Customs representative Naveeda Mirza says the discovery was worrisome because "it was an unusual number and because of that we asked the ship to either go back to the port of origin or get out of the U.S. waters."

After inspectors found the moths and eggs the ship's captain opted to head for international waters and call in a pesticide company to exterminate the insects.

The bugs have never established themselves in America, but not without a fight. The U.S. has battled them for decades, Mirza says, because they can wipe out forests with their voracious appetites, "a large infestation can completely defoliate trees, weaken the trees and leaving them more susceptible to disease."

Mirza says federal agencies have documented at least 20 introductions of the Asian gypsy moth through U.S. ports in the last two decades. Crews eradicated them every time.

A pest control company treated the ship from Kobe in international waters. Officials allowed it to unload during the weekend.

LA Unified to push for change in 'last hired, first fired' rule

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:46:22 -0700

District Superintendent Jim Deasy said he wants to eliminate the union’s “last hired, first fired” rule for teacher layoffs when the Los Angeles Unified School District starts negotiating a new contract.

“Currently, the only piece of information I can use, or anybody can use, when having to make these difficult decisions, is a seniority number," said Deasy.

Deasy told KPCC’s Madeleine Brand on Thursday that he wants performance to play a bigger role in deciding who gets pink slips. The teachers union has said reforming seniority rules can only be done through state law, not through a labor contract. The contract expired two months ago.

Big rig driver convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Angeles Crest Highway crash

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:25:38 -0700

A Pasadena jury has convicted a big rig driver of involuntary manslaughter in the runaway truck crash that killed two people on Angeles Crest Highway.

The crash happened two years ago. Marcos Costa was driving a double-decker auto-hauling big rig on the mountain road heading to La Canada Flintridge when he lost control. Speeding through the intersection of Angeles Crest Highway and Foothill Boulevard, he hit several cars and slammed into a bookstore and cafe.

Two people died — 12-year-old Angelina Posca and her father Angel Jorge. Several others were injured. Prosecutors argued that it wasn’t an accident, saying Costa knew his brakes were failing and should have taken a safer route. Costa’s attorney said his client committed no crime and blamed the accident on the highway itself because there was no runaway truck ramp.

The jury acquitted Costa of second-degree murder charges, and agreed to convict him of two lesser counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.

Former New York Mets/Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Lenny Dystra arraigned on federal charges

Tue, 31 May 2011 10:34:24 -0700

Lenny Dykstra #4 of the Philadelphia Phillies bats during Game three of the 1993 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Veterans Stadium on October 19, 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Credit: Rick Stewart/Getty Images

Former major league baseball player Lenny Dykstra was scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges this morning in Los Angeles.

The all-star outfielder for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies is accused of bankruptcy fraud and obstruction of justice related to his bankruptcy filing two years ago.

A 13-count federal grand jury indictment alleges that after he’d filed for protection, Lenny Dykstra moved valuables out of his $18 million mansion in Ventura County, including chandeliers, artwork and sports memorabilia related to his career.

Prosecutors allege he then lied under oath about selling, destroying and hiding the property, valued at nearly a half million dollars, that should have gone to his creditors.

Dykstra’s attorney told the Associated Press that his client did not commit fraud, and that the case stems from a dispute with the bankruptcy trustee.

If a jury convicts him on all 13 counts, Dysktra, whose fans called him “Nails,” faces up to 80 years in prison.

Post offices extend hours to accommodate last-minute tax filers

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Midnight tonight is the final deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns. The U.S. Postal Service has announced extended hours at eight branches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

The tax-day lines at post offices have shrunk in recent years as more taxpayers rely on electronic filing. The IRS reports that 85 % of the 142-million federal income tax returns filed last year were paperless. That still left more than 20-million in need of postmarks.

To help accommodate the traditionalists the following post offices will be open late tonight:

-- Airport Station, 9029 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles; mail
collection and retail service until midnight.

-- Los Angeles, 7001 S. Central Avenue; collection until midnight,
and retail service until 10 p.m.

-- Van Nuys, 15701 Sherman Way; collection and retail service until
midnight.

-- Industry, 15421 E. Gale Ave.; collection until midnight and
retail service until 6 p.m.

-- Long Beach, 2300 Redondo Ave.; collection until midnight, and
retail service until 7 p.m.

-- Pasadena, 600 Lincoln Ave.; collection and retail service
until 10 p.m.

-- Santa Ana, 3101 W. Sunflower Ave.; collection until midnight and
retail service until 7 p.m.

-- B&B Pharmacy, 18525 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda; collection
and retail until 10 p.m.

More information available online at www.usps.com or by calling (800) 275-8777.

Parolee arrested in Newport Beach for stealing over $280,000 from blind, deaf 98-year-old widow

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:11:55 -0700

Authorities have arrested a Vermont parolee whose mother worked as a caretaker for an elderly blind and deaf woman. Newport Beach Police have accused him of stealing a large amount of the widow’s money.

Police arrested John Thomas Windsor two years after his alleged victim died. The homebound 99-year-old, identified only as Edna M., also suffered from dementia. Police say that without her knowledge, Windsor moved into her home and began to use her bank account and credit cards to buy cars and an engagement ring for his girlfriend.

Prosecutors say Windsor also had the widow sign over her power of attorney, and attempted to take out a loan on her home. Her bank became suspicious and contacted Adult Protective Services.

Windsor, who’s 41 years old, was on parole for domestic abuse and fraud. Prosecutors have charged him with burglary, caretaker theft, felony forgery and sentencing enhancements. Prosecutors want bail set at $280,000 – the amount of money they accuse Windsor of stealing from Edna M.

Court orders Ralphs to pay fine for overcharging customers in Los Angeles

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:01:09 -0800

Ralphs grocery store sign Credit: Frank Farm/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

The Ralphs supermarket chain was ordered to pay $67,600 in fines for overcharging its Los Angeles customers. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson also placed the grocery company on three years probation.

Ralphs pleaded no contest in February to 62 misdemeanors and infractions resulting from undercover inspections last winter at 15 stores in the city of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County weights and measures inspectors found overcharges on several prepackaged and weighed items, including bulk coffee, fried chicken, self-service salads and fish.

This is the third time in three years that Ralphs has paid fines for overcharges. The judge’s fine is less than half the maximum penalty allowed under law.

The company has characterized the violations as unintentional, isolated incidents that were the result of human error. Ralphs' vice president of marketing, Kendra Doyel, said the grocer has redoubled its efforts to ensure accuracy.

When asked if he was satisfied with the judge's fine, which was less than half of the maximum permitted under law, Deputy L.A. City Attorney Don Kocek said, “We’ll be really happy if they learn their lesson and never rip off their customers again.”

Free foreclosure prevention workshop offered for struggling homeowners

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:57:24 -0800

A free foreclosure prevention workshop provides struggling homeowners an opportunity to meet with trained housing counselors and lenders to solve mortgage problems.

The nonprofit Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative sponsors six foreclosure prevention workshops every year. This one’s different because of a new requirement that homeowners talk with a HUD-trained housing counselor before they meet with mortgage lenders at the event.

Organizer Connie Der Torossian, says studies indicate that homeowners’ chances improve when they have a counselor who can continue to advocate for them after the event. It’s someone to call when the bank says it’s lost your paperwork. Again.

"I can’t guarantee any kind of outcome, but I can at least say you can meet face-to face with them, you can bring your paperwork, you can hand it off to them and you have somebody to call — a live person — at a nonprofit agency, that you’ll be able to follow up with your file."

The workshop is Saturday, Feb. 26, at Ladera Ranch Middle School, 29551 Sienna Parkway, Ladera Ranch, CA 92694. Registration is at 9 a.m. The event continues until 1:30 p.m. Homeowners should bring all their mortgage-related paperwork.

Orange County DA’s investigation finds no wrongdoing in county jail inmate death

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:29:29 -0800

The Orange County District Attorney has found no wrongdoing in the death of a jail inmate.

Richard Wilson died last June in a wing of the Men’s Central Jail for inmates with medical problems. The 55-year-old had a lot of them.

When he was arrested for violating probation, he told Anaheim Police and jail deputies that he hadn’t taken his blood pressure medicine. He also said he was prone to seizures and had hepatitis B and C. The next day, deputies found him on the floor of his cell, several hours after he had died.

The autopsy report said he died of hypertensive heart disease. He also suffered from alcoholism, drug abuse, hepatitis viral infection – and had methamphetamine and methadone in his system.

In his report, Deputy DA Larry Yellin said there was no foul play or evidence of criminal negligence. The investigation was limited to criminal violations, and did not review jail policy on inmates with medical conditions. A sheriff spokesman says the Orange County Health Care Agency is responsible for screening all prisoners before they’re admitted to the jail.

Senator Boxer praises federal grant to address increasing homelessness

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:40:54 -0800

Senator Boxer after being sworn in for her fourth term in office Credit: Kitty Felde/KPCC

California is getting $227 million in federal grants to help manage the increasing numbers of homeless people.

Federal Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan says the government will distribute the grants to 801 organizations and shelters that help homeless Californians. The size of individual grants across the Southland ranges from several million dollars to less than $25,000.

They’ll go to well-knowns like the Salvation Army and lesser-knowns such as the Joseph House for single men in Orange County and the Regina House for women and children.

Los Angeles County’s Mental Health Department will get more than $6 million for its programs; Pomona’s city shelter will receive more than a million.

California’s junior U.S. senator, Barbara Boxer, praised the HUD grants. She called them an investment to help the state combat an epidemic of homelessness the recession has created.

FBI to examine Mitrice Richarson's remains

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:12:08 -0800

Federal investigators are stepping into the case of a woman who disappeared after Los Angeles County sheriffs released her from custody a year and a half ago.

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI has agreed to examine the exhumed skeletal remains of Mitrice Richardson.

Baca said he asked the agency to investigate in response to the Richardson family’s request.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Richardson in the summer of 2009 for not paying a bill at a Malibu restaurant.

Nobody saw her alive after deputies released her from the remote Lost Hills sheriff station in Calabasas without her cellphone purse or car, which had been impounded.

Searchers found her remains were nearly a year later in a rugged area of Malibu Canyon. The coroner was unable to determine how she’d died.

The Richardson family is suing the sheriff's department for negligence. An internal review said deputies had followed department policy. Richardson's skeletal remains will be exhumed and sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. Richardson’s mother says she's elated that the department has responded to her wishes.

Long Beach Airport ceremoniously breaks ground for new passenger concourse

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:42:36 -0800

An upgrade is on the calendar for the Long Beach Airport. Officials ceremoniously broke ground Wednesday on a new passenger concourse that will give travelers a little more room and amenities.

The Long Beach Airport modernization project is a scaled-down version of an earlier, more ambitious and controversial upgrade. It preserves the Art Deco-style main terminal and replaces existing crowded bungalows with a spacious concourse that'll be more functional, streamlined and eco-friendly than fancy.

Passengers will be able to wait for flights in an atrium with drought-resistant gardens and palms. The new concourse includes free wireless access, shops and eateries.

Mayor Bob Foster says the airport's overdue for some improvements. "What it means to our city is we're going to have a modern airport with modern conveniences, great concessions, a much more comfortable area for people to wait. It's going to make this airport a lot better and more convenient, but it will still be the airport you'll want to use because you can still get in and out of here very quickly."

The $45 million passenger concourse project is certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. The building will include rooftop solar panels to generate 13 percent of the facility's energy. Officials say the construction will provide 350 local jobs.

The concourse is one phase of a $140 million upgrade that includes a new parking structure, rehabilitation of the main terminal building and improvements to the air carrier ramp.

The city has a strict court-tested airport noise abatement ordinance and a history of neighborhood resistance to airport expansion. Noise restrictions limit the number of commercial airport flights to 41 per day, and that won't change, so the upgrade represents more of a renovation for passenger comfort and convenience, than an expansion of air travel services.

City Councilmember Rae Gabelich, who was a member of a community group that fought airport expansion before being elected in 2004, praised the modernization at the groundbreaking. "We're here to celebrate right-sizing the airport. It's a great day. We're going to move forward in a very positive fashion, and it's going to be good for the neighborhoods; it's going to be good for the economy. It's going to support us for many, many years to come."

Since discount carrier JetBlue started using Long Beach Airport about a decade ago, passenger volume has risen from almost a million to more than 3 million a year.

The concourse is scheduled to be completed in 2013. A new parking garage is currently under construction.

20th Annual Mariachi Festival held Sunday

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:26:38 -0800

As luck would have it, Sunday was the rain date organizers chose when they canceled last month’s 20th Annual Mariachi Festival because of weather. But with a wary eye to the sky, organizers promised that the show would go on - rain or shine. And that's music to the ears of diehard Mariachi fans.

Judith Kamel’s parents loved mariachi music. She still remembers the first festival they took her to in Las Vegas. "Amazing! I felt like I had never heard it before. I can still remember that feeling. And I thought, 'Oh, this is what I want to do.'"

Kamel says she then went to the Mariachi Festival in L.A.’s Boyle Heights and saw the first women’s mariachi group in the United States. "I was just blown away. It just reinforced how much I really wanted to be part of that genre!"

So she studied and practiced. A lot of luck, timing and rehearsals later, she became a member of that same pioneering ensemble, the Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. "Yes! Isn’t that crazy?"

Kamel and the 11 other musicians with the Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles headlined with Mariachi Sol de Mexico at Sunday's 20th Annual Mariachi Festival. Some very young mariachi players helped them open the show.

The Mariachi Festival was Sunday, December 19 at the historic Mariachi Plaza at 1st Street and Boyle Avenue in Boyle Heights.