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San Clemente homeowners file lawsuit over mudslides

San Clemente homeowners filed a lawsuit  Wednesday alleging that the owners of a nearby golf course failed to maintain hillside slopes where heavy rains caused disastrous mudflows in December.

The 11 homeowners, who residences were damaged during the torrential downpours, are seeking in excess of $10 million in damages, according to the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

Attorney Serge Tomassian, who represents the homeowners, said the slope near the Shorecliffs Golf Course was still moving and that rainfall during the next several days may cause additional mudslides that could affect the homes on Via Ballena. 

Tomassian also said he had filed claims for damages for $10 million to $15 million against the city of San Clemente.

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Suspect is arrested in Lennox backyard body case

A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the death of a man whose body was found buried in the backyard at a Lennox house, authorities said Wednesday night.

Marcos Lomeli, 26, was apprehended Wednesday afternoon at a motel in the 4300 block of Rosemead Boulevard in Pico Rivera after detectives pursued leads developed in the case, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies surrounded the motel about 2 p.m while a sheriff's SWAT team negotiated with Lomeli, who surrendered peacefully about 30 minutes later, Parker said.

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O.C. attorney to be arraigned in investment scheme

HEGER, JAN An Irvine attorney is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges that he stole $898,000 from 11 victims in an investment scheme with two other men, the Orange County district attorney's office said.

Attorney Jan Morton Heger and Ramon Andres Najera, both 66, are charged with 16 felony counts of using untrue statements in the sale or purchase of securities and 11 felony counts of grand theft, with sentencing enhancement allegations for aggravated white-collar crime of more than $500,000, theft exceeding $150,000 and property loss exceeding $200,000, according to the district attorney's office.

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L.A. mayor, UTLA spend most in school board races

As widely expected, most of the campaign money in the March 8 election for the Los Angeles Board of Education is coming from outsiders and not the candidates themselves.

The biggest player is a committee supported by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Next in line is United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers union for the nation’s second-largest school system.

The Villaraigosa-backed Coalition for School Reform is supporting incumbents Tamar Galatzan and Richard Vladovic as well as Luis Sanchez, who is running to fill the one open seat among four on the ballot.

The Coalition can't be called the "mayor’s committee" because state law prohibits the mayor, as a political officeholder, from exerting control. But that hasn’t stopped the mayor from fundraising for the effort. And the committee was formed solely to support the candidates he’s backing. All told, the committee has spent $410,696, according to the latest filings. It has more than $1 million still in reserve.

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Nursing home is fined after patient dies after choking

California health regulators have levied a $100,000 fine against a Santa Monica nursing home after concluding that inadequate care led to the death of a patient who died after choking while eating dinner, officials said Wednesday.

Goldstar Rehabilitation and Nursing Center was given an "AA citation," which is the most severe penalty under state law and resulted in the monetary civil penalty, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement.

The agency concluded that the facility failed to provide the patient, described as a 60-year-old man, with a soft diet that was ordered by a doctor, according to a summary report released by the agency.

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Bell 8: Six officials ordered to stand trial for looting city treasury [Updated]

Six current or former Bell City Council members were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on felony charges that they drew extraordinary salaries for serving on boards and commissions that met so rarely that one elected official testified that he wasn’t even sure what the agencies did.

In ordering a trial, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall said it wasn't really a tough decision on his part. "This is not really a difficult case," he said.

[Updated at 5:26 p.m.: Hall order Mayor Oscar Hernandez and current and former council members Luis Artiga, Victor Bello, George Cole, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal to stay away from city hall and no longer participate in Bell's civic affairs.

The order essentially shuts down the City Council and makes it impossible for the council to meet until next month's election.

"These people may not be in the running of that city in any shape or form," Hall said. "The allegations are, in my opinion, appalling."]

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Your commute: Live L.A. traffic conditions

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Your commute: Live L.A. traffic conditions

Rain halts hunt for second body behind Lennox house

The hunt for a second body possibly buried in the backyard of a Lennox "drug house" was halted Wednesday, the day after the remains of an male adult were unearthed in the yard, investigators said.

The ongoing search was suspended because of rainy weather, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Thomas.

Detectives first visited the house in the 4800 block of 112th Street at Inglewood Avenue late Monday when a resident, Jenny Salazar, 22, told them at least one body was buried behind the house, deputies said.

Marcos Lomeli, 26, identified as the woman’s ex-boyfriend, is wanted for false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. Both were occasional renters at the Lennox house, deputies said.

Salazar, who reported the body, was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and is being held on $100,000 bail.

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Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 47

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

MUSIC, SURF, SAIL: Tyler Mann captures a convergence of California culture at Venice Beach.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.


California Supreme Court will decide key issue in same-sex-marriage legal fight

The California Supreme Court decided Wednesday to determine whether the sponsors of Proposition 8 have special authority to defend the anti-gay marriage initiative in court.

The state high court, meeting in closed session, agreed to a request by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine the status California law gives initiative sponsors.

The court was unanimous in deciding to accept the case. The court's order set an expedited briefing schedule to permit a hearing by "as early as September." The court must rule on a case 90 days after oral argument.

A panel of the 9th Circuit has indicated it would have to dismiss an appeal by proponents of Proposition 8 on procedural grounds unless the California court determines that the initiative's sponsors have legal standing.  A procedural ruling would not affect gay marriage outside of California.

ProtectMarriage, the group that sponsored the 2008 anti-gay-marriage initiative, appealed a federal judge’s ruling in August that found the measure unconstitutional. State officials, who under law clearly have the right to appeal such orders, refused to do so.

The state high court already has ruled twice on same-sex marriage.  In a May 2008 ruling, the court voted 4-3 to end California’s ban on gay nuptials.  Voters reinstated the ban six months later.

The state court rejected a challenge of Proposition 8 the following year, ruling 6-1 that it was not an illegal revision of the state Constitution.

Both conservative and liberal groups are expected to urge the California court to rule that backers of ballot measures have authority, or “standing,” to defend them.  Such a ruling would pave the way for a 9th Circuit decision on Proposition 8’s constitutionality, which likely would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and have national impact.

ALSO:

Mel Gibson extortion case delivered to L.A. prosecutors

Armenian gang fraud cost victims at least $20 million

Crews search for second body in backyard of Lennox home

--Maura Dolan





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L.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles.
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