The San Diego County sanctuary hosting the black bear in a quarantine cage is preparing to build a habitat where he could live permanently. Meanwhile, a Colorado sanctuary still wants him.To the bear known as Meatball, taste matters.

A massive fish die-off in the Salton Sea is the prime suspect in a rotten smell that swept the region, but experts can't recall a bad odor ever traveling so far.When the rotten egg smell wafted into the Santa Clarita United Methodist Church in Saugus on Monday morning, Kathy Gray thought the church's sewer pipe had burst.

Former prosecutor Christopher A. Darden says Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. manipulated the evidence, a charge that remaining 'dream team' members furiously deny. Members of the O.J. Simpson defense "dream team" were back in action 17 years after the legendary murder trial, this time defending the name of their late colleague, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Dr. Kevin Pezeshki is accused of inappropriately touching a patient during two hospital exams. He is free on $200,000 bail. A Van Nuys gynecologist has been charged with sexually assaulting a patient on two occasions while examining her at a Northridge hospital, court records show.

The popular new 626 Night Market will take place Oct. 20 and 21. The new site is meant to solve the traffic and parking problems of the earlier street locations.San Gabriel Valley's 626 Night Market, an event reminiscent of the popular night markets in Asia, will return in October for two days at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia.

Four years after the Chatsworth disaster, Metrolink shows off its progress on a pioneering crash prevention project like the kind some in the railroad industry want to delay implementing.Metrolink on Monday previewed a pioneering, $200-million crash prevention project for a top federal safety official, who expressed concern about railroad industry efforts to postpone deadlines for installing the s...

The cards, under study now, would provide a form of identification for those without driver's licenses and could be used to open bank accounts, transfer funds and access cash.Los Angeles officials are considering a plan to turn the library card into a form of identification that the city's large illegal immigrant population could use to open bank accounts and access an array of city services. ...

Nearly 20 years after hantavirus was first identified in the U.S., doctors are under pressure to quickly learn more about the pervasive and deadly disease.In his 30-plus years as a doctor, Bruce Tempest had never seen anything like it.

In a sweaty, loud San Diego gym, veterans train in mixed martial arts, fighting each other and the demons they brought home from Iraq and Afghanistan.SAN DIEGO — Todd Vance — Iraq combat veteran, bar bouncer, and social-work major at a local university — is lecturing two dozen of his fellow veterans on the techniques and joys of the chokehold.

The headstone for the grave of abolitionist John Brown's son was missing for 10 years. Recently it was found, but the grave is on private land. Now what?Ian White was taking his toddler son up into the hills above Altadena when he spotted the long-lost gravestone of abolitionist Owen Brown in a dirt patch off the trail.

L.A. jury finds 'Girls Gone Wild' founder Joe Francis knowingly made false statements that Steve Wynn threatened to kill him over a $2-million gambling bill.A Los Angeles jury awarded casino mogul Steve Wynn $20 million Monday in his slander suit against "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis — a sum 10 times the gambling debt that sparked the dispute.

Chief Charlie Beck orders 21 stations to hold community meetings to allow questions on three recent videotaped incidents in which the level of force used by officers was called into question.Facing public concern over three videotaped incidents in which police used serious force to subdue people, the Los Angeles Police Department plans to host a series of community meetings to discuss with the pub...

Business people and others see a hopeful sign as a section of Vermont Avenue becomes the El Salvador Community Corridor.Maria Montenegro became one of the first Salvadoran restaurant owners in Los Angeles when she opened El Migueleno on Vermont Avenue in 1969, financed by a $5,000 loan sealed on a handshake.

A black bear ambles into Montrose, stopping freeway traffic, strolling through yards and causing panic at a soccer game before being returned to the Angeles National Forest.The neighborhood was unfamiliar and the local roads confusing.

A Javan macaque monkey being kept as a pet and living on a diet that included Frosted Flakes and juice has been quarantined after it bit a Paso Robles woman multiple times on the hand and arm.

Hunting bears with hounds is humane, and legislation barring it should be vetoed, as should a bill to sterilize trout.SACRAMENTO — Admittedly I'm biased about bears. I don't think they're hunted enough in California. I say hunt them down with dogs. Hunt them with drones.

City settles a lawsuit by the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Assn. rather than go to court over 2010 action restricting food trucks.Monrovia's Old Town, a quaint neighborhood of eateries and shops that hosts a weekly street fair with live music, long has been a social destination. But for the last two years, the historic area was under a strict city ordinance: No food trucks allowed.

USC's planned takeover of the neighboring Coliseum could cause disruptions at the state museum, the center president says.The president of the California Science Center has "serious concerns" that USC's planned takeover of the neighboring Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could restrict public parking and cause disruptions at the state museum, which soon will be home to the space shuttle Endeavour. ...

Deputy Elton Simmons' bosses knew he had a good record with the public, but they were surprised to discover just how good: not a single complaint since 1992.Along with meter maids and IRS auditors, traffic cops may be the public servants most reviled just for doing their jobs. So perhaps it's inevitable that even the best will get a few citizen complaints filed against them from time to time. ...

If Curiosity locates H2O, a simmering NASA controversy will boil over. The rover's drill bits may be tainted with Earth microbes that could survive upon touching water. For all the hopes NASA has pinned on the rover it deposited on Mars last month, one wish has gone unspoken: Please don't find water.

Fred Caporaso isn't a biologist, but he's has been taking students to the Galapagos Islands regularly since 1992. A highlight? A huge old tortoise called Lonesome George.The sign outside Fred Caporaso's door lists his official title: professor of food science. And it's true that his research area is sensory evaluation, the science of how food tastes. But step inside, and it's clear that his heart ...

Mammoth Lakes' bankruptcy over $43 million in damages awarded to a developer is an extreme example. Trees, a radio antenna and a landslide have all sparked high-profile cases.Mammoth Lakes hardly fits the profile of other cities that have recently plunged into bankruptcy.

Charter supporters say a moratorium on new campuses proposed by an L.A. school board member would violate state law.Charter school advocates are mounting a campaign against a proposed moratorium on new charters in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The moratorium is one provision of a resolution, by school board member Steve Zimmer, scheduled for discussion Tuesday.

Bet Tzedek, which offers free legal services to Jews and non-Jews alike, leaves Los Angeles' Fairfax district for new digs in a more central location: Koreatown.Nearly four decades ago, 18 friends came together to offer free legal services in Los Angeles' Fairfax district.

SB 901 would have given sanctuary to illegal immigrants who came to California before 2008. But a Latino legal group opposed a provision requiring undocumented people to register with the state.SACRAMENTO — A difference of opinion among immigrant-rights groups appears to have contributed to the demise of legislation to provide a haven in California for people who came to the country illegall...

New program aims to make sure hunger doesn't impede students' learning. But the logistics concern the teachers union.It started out as a way to make sure students don't begin their school day hungry, a factor in lower academic achievement.

The L.A. Jewish Home, which houses seniors and provides elder care services, buys land at Playa Vista, south of Marina del Rey.The Los Angeles Jewish Home, a leading provider of senior housing in the L.A. area, has bought 2.5 acres at Playa Vista and plans to establish its first Westside facility, officials said Saturday.

New efforts are meant to ease 'transfer shock' for a student population that helps public and private universities' bottom lines.The 200 transfer students ate Huli Huli chicken and wore plastic leis at a recent luau held in their honor at USC. But more important than food or party favors, participants said, was the camaraderie and encouragement to join the campus mainstream.

A man who jumped the fence at singer Miley Cyrus's Studio City home in the early-morning hours on Saturday was arrested

Sept. 12 marks the fourth anniversary of the deadly collision in Chatsworth. Scores of victims still face the consequences of a federal liability cap they say has left them inadequately compensated.Like other survivors from the crash of Metrolink 111, Mike Wiederkehr will never be the same.