Los Angeles

May 20 2013

387 snake, lizard and crocodile skin handbags

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A dead primate, nearly half a pound of elephant meat and 387 snake, lizard and crocodile skin handbags are among the illegal items seized in recent days at Los Angeles International Airport, Customs officials reported today.

The handbags were seized on May 6 during a baggage inspection for a 31-year-old man arriving on a flight from Nigeria, said Lee Harty of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

May 20 2013

Every deputy charged with a felony is relieved of duty without pay

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy pleaded not guilty today to assaulting an inmate in the back of a patrol car, a charge brought nearly two years after the alleged incident occurred.

Matthew John Funicello, 31, is accused of hitting Dewayne Wright, who was then 19, several times with his fist on July 22, 2011. Wright was being moved from the sheriff’s Palmdale station to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility downtown at the time.

May 20 2013

Polls open tomorrow morning

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Despite a close race for Los Angeles mayor and hotly contested battles for City Council, city attorney and city controller, only 22.7 percent of registered voters returned vote-by-mail ballots as of today, with polls across the city opening tomorrow.

Election officials issued 739,117 vote-by-mail ballots and 167,657 have been returned so far, Kimberly Briggs of the City Clerk’s office said.

May 20 2013

Expert testifies the promoter should have seen “a red flag” when Murray asked for $5 million

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — AEG Live filed an insurance claim to recover losses from Michael Jackson’s death the same day he died, according to a lawyer for Jackson’s family.

That revelation may not relate to the heart of the wrongful death lawsuit against Michael Jackson’s last concert promoter, but Jackson lawyers hope it could sway jurors to see AEG Live executives as motivated by money over the pop icon’s needs.

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.

Across Black America

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

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”