City News Service
May 17 2013

SCE crews on scene

COMPTON, Calif. — A fire broke out today in a commercial building in Compton, possibly compromising power lines, county fire officials said.

The blaze was reported at 3:24 p.m. in the 5000 block of Compton Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The structure was engulfed in flames and continued to burn as of 4 p.m., fire officials said.

There may be power lines down behind the burning building, fire officials said. Southern California Edison were dispatched to the scene.

May 17 2013

Preserve jobs, ensure environmental retrofitting

CARSON, Calif. — Attorney General Kamala Harris and the Federal Trade Commission announced today that they have approved Tesoro’s $2 billion acquisition of a BP refinery in Carson.

Harris said the agreement she reached with Tesoro and BP would preserve jobs, ensure environmental retrofitting of the facility and protect from spikes in gas prices.

May 17 2013

Featured in BET's "First In"

COMPTON, Calif. — Former Compton Fire Department Deputy Chief Marcel Melanson is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on grand theft and arson charges related to a fire at the department’s headquarters.

Melanson is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of Motorola radios, selling them online and intentionally setting the Dec. 11, 2011 fire to destroy evidence of the thefts, Steve Whitmore of the sheriff’s department said.

May 17 2013

Victims range from their teens to 50-years-old

LANCASTER, Calif. — A registered sex offender accused of using a cellphone camera to capture video up hundreds of women’s skirts in Lancaster and elsewhere in Los Angeles County was in custody and facing prosecution, authorities said.

May 17 2013

"Miracle drug" contained suntan lotion

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — An ex-doctor who was also a minister was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison for selling a “brown sludge” made of suntan lotion and beef flavoring as a miracle cancer cure to patients across the country, via ads on a religious TV network and her Mission Hills clinic.

Christine Daniel, 58, of Santa Clarita, who operated a clinic under such names as the Sonrise Wellness Center, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Timlin, who remanded Daniel into custody following the four-hour hearing.

May 16 2013

Jim Hill speaks to youth

Sports anchor Jim Hill speaks to youth at Carson’s annual Youth Conference. Hill, a well-known CBS 2 broadcaster for more than 30 years, gave his talk on Saturday at the Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center. Hill appears on the CBS 2 newscast weekdays at 6 and 11 p.m. and also hosts the weekend editions of “Sports Central.”

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.