Search

The article reports on California couple Alexander and Daphna Cardinale who were given the wrong embryo during their in vitro fertilization process. Topics include their claims against the fertility clinic that made the mistake, California Center for Reproductive Health, and the legal process to find their biological baby.

The article focuses on the boat fire tragedy that claimed 34 lives off the coast of Southern California on September 2, 2019.

The article focuses on the surrogacy of Woodland Hills, California, resident Melissa Cook. The author explains that Cook agreed to be a surrogate for an unidentified single, deaf, postal worker from Georgia, discusses the biological father's request to abort the triplet boys Cook gave birth to in August 2015, and explores how Cook is now fighting California's surrogate laws to earn custody of the three children.

The article focuses on the shooting terrorist attack that took place in San Bernardino, California, on December 2, 2015, killing 14 people. Topics include the shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, the couple's Islamic radicalization, and the victims, including Aurora Godoy, Sierra Clayborn, and Yvette Velasco.

The article discusses the disappearance of the 19-year-old pregnant military wife Erin Corwin in Palms, California as of June 29, 2014. Topics include a timeline detailing Erin's disappearance, mention of Erin's trip to Joshua Tree National Park in California on the day she was last seen, a history of her relationship and marriage with husband U.S. Marine Corporal Jonathan Corwin, and speculation of an affair between Erin and her neighbor Christopher Lee.

The article discusses how actor Brad Pitt and actress Angelina Jolie went on vacation at California's Mammoth Mountain ski resort on February 6, 2008, with their children. The article presents several photographs taken from the vacation. While on vacation the family enjoyed skiing, snowboarding, and sledding.

Focuses on the George Mark Children's House, the first freestanding pediatric hospice in the United States dedicated to helping kids and their families deal with untimely death. Way that families with terminally ill children can come to the home in San Leandro, California when they need help; Examples of several children and how they found comfort prior to death; Efforts of Caitlin Dolaghan to remain hopefully despite her diagnosis of bone cancer.

The article focuses on what Scott Peterson can expect on San Quentin's death row. In the San Mateo County jail, where Scott Peterson has spent the last 14 months, the easy charm that served him so well before things went bad has come in handy. "Scott's a model prisoner," says San Francisco Bay Area criminal defense attorney Paula Canny, who gets updates about him from her clients in San Mateo. After a March 16 hearing at which a superior court judge is expected to uphold his conviction for killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son Conner in 2002, Peterson, 32, will move into his new home--death row at San Quentin. The 617 prisoners on San Quentin's death row "face a living hell," says Sister Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking and a prisoners' rights advocate who has counseled death row inmates there. Peterson will join a gallery of notorious killers facing execution, including Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) and the Yosemite slayer Cary Stayner. If history is a guide, his tenancy will be a long one: The average time spent on death row between an inmate's appeal and his release or execution is "20 years, give or take 2, at least here in California," says James Anderson, a former Alameda County prosecutor who sent 10 convicts to death row. He predicts Peterson will have a hard time of it. INSET: ON DEATH ROW.

This article reports on the criminal trial of singer Michael Jackson in California. Just in its second week, the Jackson trial is already getting right to the heart of the case against the 46-year-old defendant. So far the court has heard from the sister of the accuser, as well as the brother, who along with prosecutor Thomas Sneddon painted a lurid picture of the superstar singer as a kind of super satyr--a man who plied the children with wine, which he called "Jesus Juice," surfed porn sites with them and molested the accuser, who was recovering from multiple cancers. At some point soon the two sides will also be sparring over the testimony of Jay Leno, who has been unwittingly drawn into the case. Leno took a call from the accuser in 2000 but hung up, according to defense attorney Thomas Mesereau, when he suspected the mother was using the boy to get him to cover medical expenses. The defense may be planning to throw its own wild card into the witness mix--namely Jackson himself. In his opening statement Mesereau strongly suggested that the singer would take the stand, which could make for even more bizarre courtroom theater.A key player in the Jackson case is the accuser's mother, portrayed by the defense as a greedy manipulator. INSETS: MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE COURTROOM DRAMA;VICTIM OR VICTIMIZER--OR BOTH?.

This article looks at the guilty verdict in the trial of Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife, Laci and their unborn son, Conner. On Nov. 22, 2004 the jury is scheduled to begin hearing several days of what is expected to be wrenching testimony from both sides on whether Peterson will be sentenced to death or get life in prison without parole. Behind the scenes, the verdict was a huge relief for Laci's family, especially her mother, Sharon Rocha, who until the very last minute worried that Scott would beat the rap. If Scott Peterson is sentenced to be executed, he would be sent to San Quentin, just north of San Francisco, where the state holds all of its more than 600 male Death Row inmates. INSETS: KEYS TO THE CASE AGAINST SCOTT PETERSON;WHAT WILL SCOTT'S LIFE IN PRISON BE LIKE?.

These are the nights when Conner Peterson, who would have been 3 months old now, should be keeping his father awake. Instead the din of other prisoners at the county jail in Modesto, Calif., leaves Scott Peterson sleeping fitfully. His life has been reduced to bare essentials--a 6-ft.-by-9-ft. cell and a 90-minute twice-a-week session of shuffling along in shackles on the jailhouse roof. Reminding the world of the bond that once existed between Laci and Scott has become a kind of mission for the Peterson clan. With a court appearance scheduled for May 27, 2003, the next step toward a preliminary hearing, Scott's family is launching a public relations campaign in the hope of dispelling the tsunami of negative news reports that has battered him almost from the moment the pregnant Laci, 27, went missing on December 24, 2002. In an interview with "PEOPLE", his parents, Lee and Jackie, along with several of his siblings and in-laws, sought to portray Scott, 30, as a favorite son and ideal husband who never would have harmed his wife and unborn son, whose bodies washed up in San Francisco Bay in April 2003. INSETS: Where's Amber?;The Satanic Scenario.

He had grown a goatee and dyed his brown hair an unlikely shade of reddish-blond. But there was no disguising the smug self-confidence that seemed such a large part of Scott Peterson's personality. Heading into the upscale Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego, California on Good Friday morning, Peterson paused to give a jaunty wave to the police officers he had spotted tailing him. Seconds later his smile vanished as a posse of a half dozen cops pounced and bundled him handcuffed into a waiting car. Throughout the 12-hour drive back to his hometown of Modesto, the normally affable Scott said nothing, staring off in the distance as the evening darkness closed in around him. A few hours after his arrest, authorities announced they had identified the bodies of a woman and child who had washed up near the Berkeley Marina in San Francisco Bay as those of Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci, 27, and their unborn child, who was to have been named Conner. That discovery, close to where Scott said he had gone fishing on Christmas Eve, the day Laci vanished, was only the crowning clue in a case that the authorities touted as virtually airtight. For Laci's family the sudden turn of events brought at least some relief after four months of uncertainty. For months investigators had gone out of their way to insist publicly that Scott had not been ruled in or out as a suspect. But by the time the remains of Laci and the baby were found, authorities had Peterson, a fertilizer salesman, under near continuous surveillance, using wiretaps, vehicle tracking devices and teams of agents. Investigators indicated that they finally arrested him out of fear he might flee. Aside from his altered appearance, at the time he was picked up he was also reportedly carrying $10,000 in cash and an ID belonging to one of his brothers and was within 30 miles of the Mexican border. INSETS: Woman in Red;Grounds for Suspicion;A Family's Defense;A Lawyer's Defense

The article discusses the Gentle Barn ranch in Santa Clarita, California. Founded by Ellie Weiner, the Gentle Barn is a refuge for abused and neglected animals that since 1999 has welcomed visits from thousands of troubled children with backgrounds that include drug addiction and child abuse. It is said they develop a special affinity for the animals.

The article discusses the increase of bears in suburban and residential areas in Lake Tahoe and the surrounding California communities. According to Jason Holley of the fish and game department of California, the bears are on the search for food due to a drought in the area. Commentary regarding the influx of bears breaking into homes in the area from Ann Bryant, director of Tahoe's BEAR League, is also included.

This article introduces Taylor Cross who is an autistic independent filmmaker from Thousand Oaks, California. Cross is releasing his film "Normal People Scare Me," which has invited other high-functioning autistics to tell their stories. The article features short biographies of some of the autistics who participated in the film, including Andrew Gering, Delaney Rodgers, Peter Foy, and Cindy Idell. The documentary film, produced by Joey Travolta, will be shown in a dozen cities.

Focuses on the efforts of Sharon Smith, the partner of the late Diane Whipple, to fight for the legal rights of gay domestic partners in California. Death of Whipple from an attack by Presa Canario dogs owned by Marjorie Knoller, who was convicted of second-degree murder; Lawsuit of Smith against Knoller for the wrongful death of a companion in a civil trial; Mention of the Diane Alexis Whipple Foundation, which will benefit women's lacrosse, cancer research and abused children.

The article reports on wildfires in California including the Paradise and Camp Fires in Northern California, and the Woolsey and Hill Fires west of Los Angeles, California.

Reports on the efforts of the family of Kristin Smart to find out what happened to her after she disappeared after a party at California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo in 1996. Efforts to convince Paul Flores to confess to murdering Smart; Evidence found in Flores dorm room; Reasons why police cannot arrest him.

Reports that in November 1998, an appeals court judge in California overturned a decision made in 1996 which allowed Justin and Sydney Simpson, the children of Nicole Brown Simpson and O.J. Simpson to remain with their father. Efforts of Nicole's family to be granted custody of the children; Simpson's efforts to prove that he did not kill Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994; Reaction of Justin and Sydney.

The article focuses on Doreen Diaz, a parent that facilitated charter company takeover of her daughter's school in Adelanto, California. Topics include the success and graduation rates of the school, the parents and school administrators that oppose the takeover, and the response of the teachers' union. Information is provided on the film "Won't Back Down," which deals with similar themes.

The article focuses on the nutrition-conscious school lunch menu in Oceanside, California school district, which bans soda, offers whole grains, and composts leftover food.

The article discusses actor Jeremy London, focusing on his history of drug abuse, his recovery process, and an incident in which he claims he was kidnapped and forced to use drugs. London describes how he was approached by a group of men who helped him change a flat tire on a rental car in Palm Springs, California, their theft of his money to buy Ecstasy, and the response of his brother and his mother to his story. INSET: WHERE THE CASE STANDS NOW.

The article discusses burglary of U.S. celebrities. Five teenagers in the Los Angeles, California area were arrested on October 22, 2009 in association with robberies at celebrity homes which totaled $2.8 million in clothes and jewelry. One of the teenagers arrested is Alexis Neiers, daughter of Mikel Neiers, an Emmy-nominated director of photography.

The article looks at the use of Google Inc.'s Google Earth map program to magnify and enhance the visibility of paintings at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. Nancy Thomas, the museum's director, comments on the 8,200 ultrahigh-resolution images that were taken to provide up-close views of 14 paintings.

The author reports that the belongings, plane and remains of pilot James Stephen (Steve) Fossett have been found in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Fossett was discovered after a hiker named Preston Morrow found his belongings while on a hike with his dog. The reactions of Fossett's friends regarding his death in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are mentioned. INSET: A FATEFUL WALK IN THE WOODS.

Several photographs are presented of same-sex couples who married or received marriage licenses on June 17, 2008 when same-sex marriage became legal in California.

The article focuses on two brothers from Chico, California. Sawyer Goodson, who is autistic, and his brother Evan were both school misfits. Sawyer was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and Evan has a speech impediment. They formed a band, called Fuel Only, and ever since, their lives began to change. They have started to make friends and feel better about themselves.

The article discusses the case of George Russell Weller, 90, who killed 10 people and injured more than 60 others when he accidentally mistook his gas pedal for the brake when he was driving in Santa Monica, California in 2003. He is now facing trial for vehicular manslaughter. Many of the survivors are mad that the system did nothing to stop elderly drivers who pose a risk to society. The accident raises the question of how to deal with elderly drivers and maintain safety on the road.

This article profiles local hero, Alfred Jenkins. The formica kitchen table in Al Jenkins's Los Angeles home doesn't look like much, but for thousands of law students it has served as the launching pad for passing California's notoriously tough bar exam. Call it boot camp for would-be lawyers. Over the past 28 years Jenkins has provided tutoring-free of charge-to more than 2,000 students, all of them African-American. Jenkins's goal: to increase the number of black lawyers-now about 4 percent-practicing in the state. "I'm putting in my effort to change the numbers around," says Jenkins, "I believe the more African-American attorneys we have, the more they will have an impact on how the law is applied to our community." His tough-love method works. "He has an amazing success rate," says Karen Nobumoto, an L.A. deputy district attorney who studied with Jenkins in 1990-and who is also the only minority attorney to serve as president of the state bar. "He scared me so badly that I never studied less than 12 hours a day." Jenkins believes his biggest initial task is to convince his students-many of whom have flunked the bar a couple of times or more that they are capable of passing. "Law is not rocket science," he says. "You deal with a lot of esoteric terms that make people think it's mysterious. But law is just common sense." As for the hands-on instruction, Jenkins spends most of the sessions going over practice essays, teaching the students a formula for organizing their thoughts. Above all, Jenkins preaches the need to study hard in the months before the exam. "You have to put aside everything else," he says. "It must become the most important thing in your life." By and large, the message gets through.

The article profiles the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as the company they cofounded goes public. Growing up in East Lansing, Mich., Larry Page, now 31, already had the word "googol" dancing in his brain. In grade school, says former classmate Steve Archer, 30, "I actually learned from Larry that a googol is [a] one with 100 zeros after it."Meanwhile, over in College Park, Md.: Sergey Brin, 31, was making his mark--surprise!--as the star of the chess club and math team and as a joker. Brin, who moved from his native Moscow at age 6, also had a genetic advantage: Dad Michael, 56, is a math professor at the University of Maryland, and mom Eugenia, 56, is a NASA analyst. When the two met at Stanford's computer science Ph.D. program, they wrote software for a search engine they dubbed BackRub. The pair dropped out of Stanford in 1998 without completing their Ph.D.s and set up their new company nearby in Palo Alto.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom grants marriage licenses to gay couples--and sparks a national movement. In his office at San Francisco City Hall, Mayor Gavin Newsom is talking about the moment that launched a thousand weddings. On Jan. 20 he was in Washington, D.C., to attend the State of the Union address when President Bush praised the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that defines marriage as an act between a man and a woman. Says Newsom: "At that point in my mind I realized the President was going to use this as a wedge issue to divide this country. I felt offended by it." Newsom's wife, "Court TV" host Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, who has been listening quietly, suddenly perks up: "If the people in that room only had a clue what you were going to do!" After huddling with his advisers back in San Francisco, some of whom warned he was about to commit political suicide, Newsom jump-started the national debate over gay marriage on Feb. 12 by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Mayors in towns and cities across the country were soon following Newsom's lead, heartening supporters of gay marriage--and calling to arms those who oppose it. Newsom vows to keep up his crusade, although the matter is now in the hands of the courts. In the meantime, with his matinee-star good looks and an obvious flair for political theater, he has already emerged a winner.

The article discusses the media coverage of the trial of Scott Peterson, the man who allegedly murdered his wife Laci Peterson. Visitors cruise by the Peterson's neighborhood to stare at the house across the street, some stopping to pose for pictures in front of the green Modesto, California, ranch house they've seen on television. Others snatch souvenirs, including bricks from a pile that the man of the house, Scott Peterson, intended for a remodeling project. Adding to the spectacle, on May 30, 2003 Laci Peterson's relatives stormed into the house and carted off several pieces of furniture and bags of personal items.Then prosecutors revealed on June 3 that the police had--for a second time--questioned the occupants of a brown van Scott Peterson's lawyers had alleged might have been involved in the crime--and found nothing amiss. Laci's family had reportedly been in negotiation with Scott's lawyers over reclaiming some of these items when they apparently decided to take matters into their own hands--much to the distress of Scott's family.

Reports on the efforts of Lori Moss, who was diagnosed in 1995 with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system and environmental law activist Erin Brockovich to investigate a possible cancer cluster at Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills, California. Moss believes that wrong was done to her and that the culprit was her old school Beverly Hills High, alma mater to celebrities ranging from Nicolas Cage to Monica Lewinsky. Brockovich and her boss, attorney Ed Masry, say they've uncovered more than 300 cancer cases among alumni of the famous public school. After some investigating, Brockovich says, she found that among the roughly 10,000 students who attended the school between 1981 and 1998, the incidence of some types of cancer, based on age, was about 20 times the national average. They blame fumes from 15 oil and gas wells under the campus--and since late April, 2003 they have filed 216 personal-injury claims against the school district and the city of Beverly Hills. Medical experts contest the claimants' cancer statistics and point out that most of their ailments--Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and thyroid cancer--have not been linked to petroleum products.

The day after cameras filmed 'Bachelorette' Trista Rehn bestowing her final rose on firefighter Ryan Sutter, series creator Mike Fleiss was back in his Los Angeles, California office, anticipating the show's debut on ABC two months later. Then Fleiss's assistant buzzed to tell him that Sutter, who lives in Vail, Colorado, was on the phone. As well he might, given the way the 'Bachelor' franchise has spun off its own broken-hearts club: The original Bachelor, Alex Michel, in addition to rejecting a contestant named Trista Rehn, never got anywhere near an altar with Amanda Marsh, and a few weeks ago Helene Eksterowicz cried on national television after being dumped by the second Bachelor, Aaron Buerge. Even though many viewers thought she was leaning toward financial analyst Charlie Maher, 28, Rehn says Sutter has given her all the proof she needs. Rehn went along with Sutter's unpretentious wardrobe when he wanted to go on ABC's 'Good Morning America' wearing a promotional T-shirt for Moe's, a restaurant owned by friends in Vail.

Speculates about the possible role of actor Robert Blake in the murder of his second wife, Bonny Bakley. Accusation by Bakley's family that Blake killed her; Assertion by the Los Angeles Police Department that the evidence in the case is circumstantial; Insistence by Blake that he is innocent; Details on the account Blake gave to police on what occurred the night of Bakley's death.

Highlights the volunteers' efforts to rescue animals from the fire that hit Southern California in October 1993. Volunteers Sherman Sherman and David Jacks' evacuation of cats and dogs; Involvement of celebrities; Homeowners' attitude.

The article reports on celebrity couple Bradley Cooper and Renée Zellweger. Zellweger, an actress, visited Cooper, an actor, while he was filming "The A-Team" in Vancouver, British Columbia, and when the two returned to Los Angeles, California they looked at a home in the Pacific Palisades and so could be moving in together.

This article reports that singers John Mayer and Jessica Simpson had an awkward exchange at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on October 22, 2008. The two were once a couple. Mayer is now in a relationship with actress Jennifer Aniston, while Simpson is dating professional football player Tony Romo.

The article provides information on Australian television and film actor Julian McMahon. McMahon is reported to have ridden on a double-decker bus in Los Angeles, California, with friends. The author suggests that McMahon and his friends were celebrating McMahon's birthday early by riding the bus and spending the day together.

This article focuses on the city of San Francisco, California and its decision to ban plastic shopping bags. The article explains that city supervisor Ross Mirkarimi led the legislation to ban the bags. The city is the first to ban plastic shopping bags from grocery stores and drug stores. A dozen U.S. cities and four states are considering similar bans.

This article explains that many night clubs in and around Los Angeles, California serve alcohol to celebrities under the legal drinking age because of the patrons they attract. Very few Alcohol Beverage Control agents are assigned to the many clubs in the area, and violations are difficult to prove. Also, many of these clubs double as restaurants, so anyone is legally allowed to enter.

An interview with actor Taye Diggs is presented. Diggs talks about his latest role as Dr. Samuel Bennett on the television show "Grey's Anatomy," which also serves as the pilot for a spinoff that will star actress Kate Walsh. Diggs confirms that he and his wife, actress Idina Menzel, are both fans of the show and that they will relocate to Los Angeles, California if the spinoff is picked up.

This article reports on the paternity test of the daughter of "Playboy" magazine model Anna Nicole Smith. In December 2006, a Los Angeles, California judge ordered a paternity test for four-month-old Danielynn. The former model claims that lawyer Howard K. Stern is the father of Danielynn, but photographer Larry Birkhead insists that DNA tests will prove otherwise.

This article describes a new line of children's clothing being introduced by Charlie Sheen and Michael Berens. The line, called Sheen Kidz, was inspired by Sheen's two daughters. Kitson Kids boutique in Los Angeles will carry a selection of the line's 75 pieces with sizes ranging from infant up to size 6x.

This article presents information about a recent siting of Britney Spears driving with her son, Sean Preston, siting in her lap. California law prohibits a baby riding in a vehicle while unsecured in a proper car seat. Spears claims she was parked when it became necessary to escape a frightening throng of paparazzi.

This article discusses Nick Lachey's life now that he's getting divorced from Jessica Simpson. His new song entitled "What's Left of Me," sounds like it is about his relationship with Simpson. Lachey was recently seen having a good time with friends, including A. J. DiScala, at Koi in Los Angeles. He was surrounded by girls and was seen with one brunette in particular. Meanwhile Simpson was dining in a nearby restaurant with friends.

Real estate junkie Nicolas Cage is at it again. The Oscar-winning actor, who has homes in Malibu and Beverly Hills, recently sold his 4,400-sq.-ft. Venice beachfront getaway and is in the market for another retreat. (He also just sold an acre of land in Bel Air for $7.2 million.) This three-story contemporary features a landscaped roof deck, a master suite overlooking the ocean, kitchen with breakfast bar, two fireplaces and mirrored windows for privacy. Cage bought the home as it was being built, overseeing the design work and adding his own touches, such as a screening room that opens to the beach.

Alex Kingston, an actress from the television show 'ER' and her husband, journalist Florian Haertel, closed on Robert Blake's Studio City, California, home in May 2002 for $840,000, days after Blake was charged with murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. After remodeling, the contemporary-style house is now on the market for $1.6 million. Kingston(Alex Kingston) and her husband never moved in; they remain in their Hollywood Hills-area home.

Discusses how actors and actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Hugh Jackman, and Elijah Wood attended the Comic-Con International, a gathering a comic book fans at the San Diego Convention Center in California. Efforts of the actors to promote their films.