'Overwhelmed' mother admits drowning her autistic son

A 37-year-old San Diego woman, sobbing uncontrollably, pleaded guilty Thursday to 2nd-degree murder for drowning her 4-year-old autistic son in the bathtub of the family home.

Patricia Corby was so overwhelmed by the task of caring for her son that she decided to kill him and then commit suicide, prosecutors said. Her attempt to drown herself in the tub failed.

After drowning the child on March 31, Corby drove to a neighborhood police station and admitted to police what she had done. The body of Daniel Corby, wrapped in a wet blanket, was found in the family's sport-utility vehicle.

Corby faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison when sentenced Jan. 28 in San Diego County Superior Court. The victim's father, Duane Corby, was in the court when his wife pleaded guilty.

ALSO:

L.A. city official hands new victory to Chinatown Wal-Mart

Flowers, candles honor homeless woman set on fire in Van Nuys

Warning: Celebratory gunfire for New Year's could land you in prison

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Patricia Corby in court. Credit: Fox-5 San Diego

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lunar New Year celebrants get no rest after Western holidays

At her store in Chinatown, Tracy Tieu replaces red and green Christmas trinkets with red and gold Lunar New Year decorations as she greets shoppers fresh from Las Vegas.

A mother strokes a jade dragon leaping from a dark wood emblem. A man and his wife unfurl scrolls bearing symbols of wealth. A student buys assorted little Buddhas, lining them up by belly size.

Inside the shop, Wing Ha Hing Gifts & Arts, Asian travelers this past weekend talk about how many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents they expect to host at noisy family gatherings.

One new year celebration may have ended — but for many Southern Californians the bustle of preparing for the Lunar New Year continues full force, with no time for holiday fatigue.

"We can't afford it," Tieu says. "We go with the season.... I order supplies six months in advance."

At crowded shopping plazas in Los Angeles' Chinatown and Koreatown, the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County's Little Saigon, seasonal foods line bakery shelves, holiday music plays on open-air speakers and Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese consumers are spending big — yet again — on their most important annual celebration.

The Year of the Snake begins Feb. 10. Those born under this sign are believed to have a good temper and strong passion, but can be suspicious.

The Lunar New Year is a time when debts are paid, arguments are laid to rest, hair is cut and homes are painted and polished and rituals are followed to sweep away ill fortune and welcome good luck. Doors and windows are decorated with themed images of happiness, prosperity and longevity, and incense is lighted in temples to pay respect to ancestors.

In the narrow, colorful shop her father opened in 1990, Tieu is surrounded by flowers, feng shui diaries, floating lotus candles and other traditional gifts.

Regina Gomez, a Chinese American from Nevada, was one of those hunting for bargains along Chinatown's main drag Sunday. She stopped at Tieu's store to prepare for the coming festivities. "When we buy for entertainment, it's better to buy for it here. It's less," she says, browsing with her kids, Shelby and Brittany. "I came to L.A. for Christmas and knew I should take a look before going home."

On the first morning of the new year, as everyone exchanges gifts and good wishes, Tieu plans to pass out crisp dollar bills in lucky red envelopes to some 20 nieces and nephews. "I have to give each of them at least $20 – anything smaller just isn't acceptable."

"It doesn't matter what we do or how much we gave for the previous holidays," adds Angie Tieu, her younger sister. "We have to remember the Lunar New Year, it's tradition, and we must spend."

On top of the financial costs, the extended holiday season carries health costs, said Calvin Ho, founder of the Plaid Bag Connection, a blog exploring the links between Asian groups outside their ethnic homeland. "We've been eating since the Moon Festival" in September "to Halloween, to Thanksgiving to Christmas and forward. Everyone overindulges because it's impossible not to."

Ho, who doesn't eat fried foods, says "with the holidays it's really hard to avoid it."

"Everything involves family," he said. "And when you are making multiple visits to different members of family day after day, you must sit down and share a meal. I get all my cravings in and it'll last until next fall."

Visiting Chinatown with her husband on Sunday, Elisa Aquino, who is half-Chinese, said she intends to serve dim sum dishes when she invites friends and relatives to her Carson home. "We go for a bang. High impact, lots of songs, lots of jokes.... I'm not cooking. We order," she adds.

Stephanie Yuan, working a souvenir kiosk nearby, said sales are brisk post-Christmas. "We are sold out of snake lucky charms," she says proudly, noting that the item features the animal highlighted in the 2013 Chinese zodiac.

"Here, you buy this one," she tells passing tourists, pointing to an Asian version of the Cheshire cat, complete with battery-operated paw, happy face and money pouch. On its white ceramic body is the Chinese character for $1 million. "It will lead you to a good way."

Merchants like Yuan and Thanh Ly, of neighboring Tambaba Fashion, can't take Lunar New Year off. "It's the day to sell," Ly says, folding traditional dresses made in Vietnam and Hong Kong. "We would like to have a vacation but we think about our living first. Some people buy last-minute."

Kevin Vong of Fresno isn't one of those. Outside Lien Hoa BBQ, he loads his truck with a whole roast pig, costing $195, carting it to a gathering to pray for the souls of his ancestors. He does this at the end of the Western new year, then again at the Lunar New Year. "I do not forget," he says. "I want someone doing that for me later. Years later."

anh.do@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

New laws: Sales taxes go up, long guns are barred in public

A mem­ber of the South Bay Open Carry move­ment con­ducts a neigh­bor­hood clean up in Ju­ly 2010 while dis­play­ing un­loaded fire­arms. Christina House, Los Angeles Times

By Patrick Mc­Greevy | 5:30 p.m.

SAC­RA­MENTO — In 2012, the gov­ernor and Le­gis­lature over­hauled Cali­for­nia's pub­lic pen­sion and work­ers' com­pens­a­tion sys­tems. They made it il­leg­al to carry rifles openly in cit­ies. They al­lowed cer­tain il­leg­al im­mig­rants to ob­tain driver's li­censes and qual­i­fy for state col­lege fin­an­cial aid.

Voters made laws, too, ap­prov­ing Gov. Jerry Brown's tem­por­ary quarter-cent hike in the sales tax, among oth­er meas­ures, in a bid to help re­solve Cali­for­nia's dire fisc­al situ­ation.

In all, more than 750 new laws take ef­fect Jan.1.

Con­tro­versy sur­roun­ded the bid to per­mit per­haps hun­dreds of thou­sands of young il­leg­al im­mig­rants to qual­i­fy for state driver's li­censes. The new law ap­plies to those giv­en a work per­mit as part of an Obama ad­min­is­tra­tion pro­gram that sus­pends de­port­a­tion for many people who ar­rived il­leg­ally as chil­dren.

Also con­ten­tious was the Dream Act, ap­proved in 2011 but tak­ing ef­fect today, al­low­ing stu­dents in the coun­try il­leg­ally to re­ceive tax­pay­er-fin­anced aid to at­tend uni­versit­ies and col­leges. The Cali­for­nia Stu­dent Aid Com­mis­sion ex­pects about 20,000 people to ap­ply for such as­sist­ance,said ex­ec­ut­ive dir­ect­or Di­ana Fuentes-Michel.

The ban on openly car­ry­ing un­loaded rifles and shot­guns in pub­lic in urb­an areas was largely a re­sponse to gun own­ers tak­ing long guns in­to their neigh­bor­hood cof­fee shops and parks as a demon­stra­tion of their 2nd Amend­ment rights.

Gun own­ers said the ban would in­fringe on their right to carry arms. But it passed with the back­ing of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and L.A. County Sher­iff Lee Baca.

The courts have been en­lis­ted in a dis­pute over a new law pro­hib­it­ing the prac­tice of "con­ver­sion ther­apy" on minors in an ef­fort to change their sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion from gay to straight. Judges have dis­agreed over its mer­its, but a fed­er­al ap­peals court has blocked the law from tak­ing ef­fect.

New pub­lic pen­sion rules are aimed at sav­ing the two largest re­tire­ment sys­tems $78 bil­lion over the next 30 years. Pub­lic em­ploy­ees hired after Jan. 1 will have to wait longer to re­tire — up to age 67 for max­im­um be­ne­fits for many work­ers — and there will be new lim­its on how much pay they can col­lect.

New laws take ef­fect in many oth­er areas as well:

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cross-training of public safety workers attracting more interest

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A disgruntled employee had sprayed his workplace with gunfire — killing three and wounding six — before heading into this Silicon Valley community, shooting another innocent and then melting into a residential neighborhood.

There weren't enough patrol officers available to secure the search area. But commanders in Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety were able to do what few across the country can: They called on a fire crew that was coming off duty to switch hats. The two dozen men and women stripped out of their turnouts and reached for their tactical vests, police uniforms and weapons to join the manhunt.

At a time of municipal budget crises, more cities are eyeing Sunnyvale's model of cross-training all sworn personnel in police, fire and emergency medical services. At least 130 now employ some form of public safety consolidation. Just in the last six months, Sunnyvale has been contacted by half a dozen entities that are looking into the idea, including Fairbanks, Alaska, two Southern California communities and a UC campus.

Since 1950, patrol officers here have been carrying fire gear and first aid kits in their black-and-whites, often arriving first at medical emergencies. Because assignments rotate, it's not unusual for fire crews to include a former homicide detective or crime scene specialist who can detect suspicious circumstances or begin processing evidence.

There is one headquarters, one administration and one dispatch center, so "everyone speaks the same language," said Public Safety Chief Frank Grgurina.

Although training costs are steep and constant, the blended functions allow Sunnyvale to spend less on public safety than surrounding communities do — $519 per capita compared with $683 in Mountain View and $950 in Palo Alto, according to the most recent data available.

"We do more with less people because we do it all," said Grgurina, who spent years at a conventional police department before taking the public safety helm last year. "I drank the Kool-Aid."

::

When Sunnyvale first decided to cross-train its personnel, this was a town of 10,000 with a volunteer Fire Department. Now home to 140,000, it is the largest city known to have a fully integrated public safety department, said Jeremy M. Wilson of the University of Michigan, who has launched the first comprehensive study of the practice.

Along with budgetary stresses, the shifting role of firefighters has been driving the trend. In 2010, departments nationwide responded to 43% fewer fires than in 1983, while medical aid calls increased 260% over roughly the same period, according to Wilson's research. Meanwhile, the number of career firefighters increased by 48%.

That has meant more "ready stand-down time," as well as sending costly fire rigs out on medical calls.

In Sunnyvale, trucks and engines are staffed with two firefighters — compared with three at most traditional departments, said James Bouziane, deputy chief of fire services. On a one-alarm blaze, a dozen firefighters are dispatched, joined at the scene by six patrol officers who pull on fire gear. A two-alarm fire ups the count.

The benefits of the system are undeniable.

On medical calls, patrol officers often arrive first. Last year, records show, they saved seven lives through defibrillation.

In an instance in August, suspects pistol-whipped a robbery victim and then set their getaway vehicle on fire in an underground garage in an attempt to divert officers. Normal protocol would have firefighters stand down until officers secured the scene. But here, they fought the blaze while their patrol counterparts in fire masks stood guard with AR-15s.

"We trust each other," said Dayton Pang, deputy chief of patrol services.

Most of the public safety department's 195 sworn officers submit a preference annually for their next assignment, although detectives remain on the job for five years before they're asked to switch to fire. There is little turnover, Lt. James Anton said.

"You go from robbery/homicide and the next day, you're in the firehouse cleaning toilets," said Anton, who will move to fire duty in February.

On a recent day, he loaded fire gear into the back of his patrol car to begin his shift. On a laptop, he tracked personnel by toggling between police and fire screens. Also at his fingertips are maps of the interior of every structure, completed for fire suppression planning but invaluable in policing.

An accident call sent him speeding to Sunnyvale's downtown post office, where a driver had put her SUV into reverse while mistakenly gunning the gas, injuring a woman in a parked car. Firefighters had not yet arrived when Anton got there, but another patrol officer had.

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Occupy float to follow Rose Parade

The Occupy movement will be making a repeat appearance at the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade, organizers and police said Monday.

A 15-foot-high float, with "Mr. Monopoly" riding a red wagon, will wheel its way down the 5.5-mile route at the conclusion of the parade, organizers said. The board game character, intended to represent bankers, will have strings attached to participants who are on the verge of losing their homes or have lost their homes to foreclosure.

"It symbolizes the grip the banks have on individual homeowners," said Carlos Marroquin, an organizer with Occupy Fights Foreclosures. "We're protesting the foreclosure practices that continue to hurt millions of families."

Occupy Fights Foreclosures, a subcommittee of Occupy L.A., is hoping to capture the attention of the thousands of national and international viewers of the parade, Marroquin said, and highlight what they call "illegal bank practices."

Organizers expect at least 200 people to march alongside their float "Occupy Our Homes, It's Not All Roses for the Banksters' Victims." Participants will meet at 6 a.m. at Singer Park before making their way to the parade route. Occupy groups from across the region, including Irvine, Riverside and Pasadena, are expected to attend.

"We are not planning a civil disobedience; we're not going to interrupt the parade itself," Marroquin said. "We just want to bring attention to the foreclosure issues involving these major banks."

Germany-based Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are among the banks the Occupy protesters are criticizing.

The Pasadena Police Department has been working with Occupy Fights Foreclosures since announcing the group's participation last week.

"It was a little bit more last-minute than last year," said Police Chief Phillip Sanchez. "But they seem very cooperative."

The focus will be on ensuring the safety of parade participants and spectators, as well as protecting demonstrator's 1st Amendment rights, Sanchez said.

Occupy L.A.'s participation in the 2012 Rose Parade went off without a hitch, Sanchez said, and he expects it will be the same this time. Last year they marched the route after the Rose Parade with an octopus float made of plastic bags and a "peacekeeping team" to keep the calm.

There will be an increased law enforcement presence, including federal agents, at the 2013 parade because of the Occupy demonstration, Sanchez said.

Although official estimates tend to fluctuate, authorities expect nearly 900,000 people to attend the parade. Tournament of Roses officials said they expect more than 700,000 spectators.

"The big thing we'd like to get out there is that if someone sees something, they should say something," Sanchez said. "It's the best way we can prevent something from occurring."

adolfo.flores@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Float remembers U.S. vets of 'forgotten war' in Korea

Byoung Baek flew out from Rochester, N.Y., on Christmas Day for the Rose Parade. But she didn't come for the weather or the revelry or the spectacle.

She traveled to Pasadena to pay a debt she has owed for 60 years.

Baek was a youngster in South Korea when American troops helped preserve her fledgling nation's sovereignty by repelling communist-backed invaders from North Korea.

The war would last three years, from 1950 to 1953. Baek and other Koreans, children during the war, would spend decades steeped in its legacy.

"Our parents always talked about it," recalled Baek, 65, a registered nurse who moved to America 40 years ago. "They appreciated the [veterans'] sacrifice, their dedication to fight for our freedom."

So when Baek heard that this year's Rose Parade would include a float honoring Korean War veterans, she organized her Korean American friends in Los Angeles and arranged to help with the decorating.

They gathered on Friday morning in a chilly Pasadena armory; senior citizens gluing rose petals, beans and eucalyptus leaves to a float commemorating a war that holds more meaning for them than it does for most Americans.

Korean War veterans "are the reason we are here," said Agoura Hills resident Mary Han, who emigrated from Seoul 20 years ago. "They are like our fathers, our uncles.… We should always honor them."

::

That's a sentiment the veterans haven't heard much in the years since the war ended.

Ask most Americans what they know of the Korean War, and you're likely to get a blank stare in return.

In American history classes, that messy conflict is mostly treated as an afterthought. It lacked the global reach of World War II and the public angst of Vietnam. In fact, it wasn't even officially called a war; it was a "police action" from the outset.

The U.S. was one of 16 nations fighting for South Korea under the United Nations' banner. But it was our country that did the heavy lifting, supplying 90% of the effort's military power.

More than 33,000 Americans died in three years of combat in Korea — almost five times the number of U.S. troops lost in 12 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Yet, "people didn't know what we were doing there," said Minoru Tonai, who was a UCLA student when he was drafted in 1950 and sent to the front lines in 20-degrees-below-zero weather. And "nobody paid attention" when Tonai, an Army sergeant, returned home.

Now, 60 years later, the Department of Defense is trying to rectify that.

"The Rose Parade is the heroes' welcome these veterans always deserved and never got," said Army Col. David J. Clark, who mingled with volunteers and veterans at the decorating session Friday.

Tonai, of Woodland Hills, will be among six veterans riding on the float. The other locals are former Army 1st Lt. Solomon Jamerson from West Los Angeles, who was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry, and Encino's James McEachin, an Army sergeant when he was wounded in an ambush and earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

McEachin is an actor now, better known for his TV roles on courtroom shows and private eye dramas than for his military stint. "But there's never been a greater honor for me than to say I served this country," he said.

And representing his comrades in the Rose Parade? "It doesn't get any better than this."

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jerry Brown readjusts his stand on the environment vs. business

SACRAMENTO — When Gov. Jerry Brown spoke to a crowd of beaming environmentalists and renewable energy advocates at the launch of a solar farm last year, he turned heads by praising another form of fuel: oil.

It was a surprising pivot from the man credited with helping to usher in the modern environmental movement as California's governor nearly four decades ago.

Back then, Brown enacted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards, signed strict anti-smog laws and blocked offshore drilling. But in his return engagement as California's chief executive, he has eased key regulations for oil companies, capped wildfire liability for timber companies and relaxed the state's landmark environmental law.

That strain of pragmatism has run throughout Brown's current governorship — and flummoxed many allies — and nowhere is it more apparent than on the issue of the environment.

As the state forges ahead with an ambitious program to combat global warming by penalizing major polluters, Brown has said he also wants to unshackle development and create jobs by overhauling California's signature environmental law. And although he signed legislation requiring the state to get a third of its power from renewable energy sources, he is supporting the oil industry's push for more drilling.

Brown's spokesman, Gil Duran, compared the approach to that of President Obama, who has touted what he calls an "all of the above" energy strategy.

"You have to pursue renewable energy — and California is leading the way — but you also have to have balance and common sense," Duran said.

Business leaders say Brown's moves are those of a chief executive who knows how to spur growth in a sluggish economy. Oil companies, timber firms and other business interests typically friendly to Republicans rewarded the Democratic governor's efforts by donating millions of dollars to his successful fall campaign to raise taxes.

Environmentalists say Brown's actions undercut his own efforts to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade and imperil the state's standing as a leader on climate change.

"He likes renewable energy. We think that's great," said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California. "But it makes no sense for somebody who cares as much about greenhouse gas reduction as he does to be bending to the will of the oil industry or bending to the will of a private massive clear-cutter."

In 2011, when the oil industry complained that environmental scrutiny had slowed the permitting of drilling projects, the governor fired his top two regulators and appointed replacements who agreed to speed approvals. He said the regulators had needlessly held up routine permits, and the projects represented jobs and revenue.

Brown also pushed hard for legislation to limit the legal liability of timber companies in cases of wildfires caused by their practices.

Echoing the timber industry's concerns, the administration said the bill would prevent prosecutors from seeking "excessive damages" — payouts several times larger than the value of the damaged land. Federal authorities said the measure could make it more difficult to secure money to pay for recovery from destructive blazes.

In a nod to conservationists, the bill Brown ultimately signed also imposed a 1% tax on lumber sales to fund restoration efforts and oversight of the industry.

"He's balancing the practical needs of California with his philosophy on finding alternative sources of energy," said Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce. "Whether you agree with him or not, he's trying to find that balance."

Activists and industry both are preparing for key fights this year.

Hoping to boost the state's economy, Brown has signaled his desire to loosen the California Environmental Quality Act — the same law he used as attorney general to pressure cities and counties to comply with the global warming law.

The measure requires developers to go through a lengthy public process detailing their projects' potential environmental effects and how those would be mitigated. Business groups have long complained that activists, labor unions — even corporate competitors — abuse the law by filing frivolous lawsuits to delay and kill development.

In 2011 Brown heard their call and signed bills to help a football stadium proposed for downtown Los Angeles and other major projects avoid drawn-out CEQA litigation. "There are too many damn regulations," he said at a signing ceremony.

Brown, who as Oakland mayor tried to have the city's downtown exempted from CEQA, wants to further limit environmental challenges to projects such as California's high-speed rail system.

"CEQA is the safety net for the air we breathe and the water we drink," said Kassie Siegel, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity. "If CEQA exemptions are a way for people to make a quick buck, we'll all regret them in the end."

Environmental groups and the energy industry are also concerned about the administration's proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a controversial drilling process that could help unlock billions of barrels of oil buried deep in California shale.

Although recently drafted regulations would require energy companies to disclose for the first time what chemicals they pump underground to break apart rock and release crude, the proposed rules would also allow firms to claim trade secrets and withhold information they consider proprietary.

Environmentalists and public health advocates have raised safety questions over the hundreds of chemicals that are typically used — many of them known carcinogens. And they fear the trade-secret provision could undermine the presumed intent of the regulations: disclosure.

Oil companies say the technology is safe and argue that such a clause is necessary to protect their competitive advantage.

Speaking to reporters after the November election, Brown said his actions would be guided by a simple question: "Do we have the right rules in place?"

"We are going to calibrate our regulations," he said, "to ensure that they encourage jobs as well as protect other aspects of public interest such as environment, health and good working conditions."

michael.mishak@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ruling over bumper-car injury supports amusement park

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court, protecting providers of risky recreational activities from lawsuits, decided Monday that bumper car riders may not sue amusement parks over injuries stemming from the inherent nature of the attraction.

The 6-1 decision may be cited to curb liability for a wide variety of activities — such as jet skiing, ice skating and even participating in a fitness class, lawyers in the case said.

"This is a victory for anyone who likes fun and risk activities," said Jeffrey M. Lenkov, an attorney for Great America, which won the case.

But Mark D. Rosenberg, who represented a woman injured in a bumper car at the Bay Area amusement park, said the decision was bad for consumers.

"Patrons are less safe today than they were yesterday," Rosenberg said.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by Smriti Nalwa, who fractured her wrist in 2005 while riding in a bumper car with her 9-year-old son and being involved in a head-on collision. Rosenberg said Great America had told ride operators not to allow head-on collisions, but failed to ask patrons to avoid them.

The court said Nalwa's injury was caused by a collision with another bumper car, a normal part of the ride. To reduce all risk of injury, the ride would have to be scrapped or completely reconfigured, the court said.

"A small degree of risk inevitably accompanies the thrill of speeding through curves and loops, defying gravity or, in bumper cars, engaging in the mock violence of low-speed collisions," Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote for the majority. "Those who voluntarily join in these activities also voluntarily take on their minor inherent risks."

Monday's decision extended a legal doctrine that has limited liability for risky sports, such as football, to now include recreational activities.

"Where the doctrine applies to a recreational activity," Werdegar wrote, "operators, instructors and participants …owe other participants only the duty not to act so as to increase the risk of injury over that inherent in the activity."

Amusement parks will continue to be required to use the utmost care on thrill rides such as roller coasters, where riders surrender control to the operator. But on attractions where riders have some control, the parks can be held liable only if their conduct unreasonably raised the dangers.

"Low-speed collisions between the padded, independently operated cars are inherent in — are the whole point of — a bumper car ride," Werdegar wrote.

Parks that fail to provide routine safety measures such as seat belts, adequate bumpers and speed controls might be held liable for an injury, but operators should not be expected to restrict where a bumper car is bumped, the court said.

The justices noted that the state inspected the Great America rides annually, and the maintenance and safety staff checked on the bumper cars the day Nalwa broke her wrist. The ride was functioning normally.

Reports showed that bumper car riders at the park suffered 55 injuries — including bruises, cuts, scrapes and strains — in 2004 and 2005, but Nalwa's injury was the only fracture. Nalwa said her wrist snapped when she tried to brace herself by putting her hand on the dashboard.

Rosenberg said the injury stemmed from the head-on collision. He said the company had configured bumper rides in other parks to avoid such collisions and made the Santa Clara ride uni-directional after the lawsuit was filed.

Justice Joyce L. Kennard dissented, complaining that the decision would saddle trial judges "with the unenviable task of determining the risks of harm that are inherent in a particular recreational activity."

"Whether the plaintiff knowingly assumed the risk of injury no longer matters," Kennard said.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

A small-town theater campaign's larger projections

OAKHURST, Calif. — Once in a while, Hollywood comes through this gateway to Yosemite National Park. People still talk about the time Ron Howard accidentally left one of his children (briefly) in a doughnut shop.

But Oakhurst's main connection to the movies has been the local Met Cinema, scene of countless first dates and family outings. When the Met closed abruptly in November — "Skyfall Coming Soon" still up on the marquee — it meant that those living in this mountain town and neighboring communities would have to drive at least 70 miles to Fresno to see James Bond on the big screen.

Now for the plot twist:

Three childhood friends believe they've developed a subscription plan that could save not only the Met but also struggling small-town theaters across the country.

The deadline to find out if they can make it work here is Dec. 31. If enough people enroll, the trio will be able to sign a lease and reopen the movie house. If not, the landlord plans to look for other tenants.

James Nelson, 30, a life coach who defines his specialty as "figuring out how to make the impossible possible," was driving back from a wealth-training seminar when his wife told him about the theater going under.

Nelson promptly turned to Matt Sconce, 31, a local church youth leader and filmmaker who got his start by winning an "American Idol" music video contest in 2004. (Sconce also works as a magician, selling DVDs of trick instruction to help supplement the family income.)

The pair then called Keith Walker, 32, a San Francisco software engineer for Klout, which ranks people according to their social media influence. Walker got in his car and started driving.

Soon the three were clustered around a computer — just like when they were kids and built a robot that was so amazing none of the adults believed it was their work.

"It felt exactly like the old days," Walker said. "Except we're taller."

They ran models of Nelson's subscription-based theater idea, showing that to break even they would need 3,000 people, or 15% of the mountain communities, to sign up. For $19.95 per month, a member would be able to see each movie one time and buy individual tickets for friends. Non-members could buy a $16 day pass.

While researching the theater business, Nelson learned that studios are transitioning to digital distribution. Thousands of independent theaters that couldn't afford equipment upgrades have closed over the last 10 years, according to industry experts. Hundreds of others — which, like the Met, still show print films — remain on the brink. The subscription business model could pay for the new equipment.

"We realized this could be our big idea, the one we've been waiting for," Nelson said. "Saving small-town movies."

Walker asked for a leave of absence to work on the project. When it was turned down, he quit his job.

Sconce began marketing the Be a Met Hero program, including dressing his two children as superheroes and having them hold signs along the highway.

"We like to be a little corny," Nelson said.

"We don't 'like to be.' We just are," Sconce corrected.

"Yes," Walker agreed. "We have no choice."

The tricky part of the membership-model calculation is that box-office totals are based on ticket sales, and distribution deals for a movie include a percentage of each ticket sold. But Met members would scan magnetic cards to record attendance totals for each film.

In the end, the success of the venture may come down to whether major studios are willing to negotiate contracts without traditional tickets being sold. But first, success depends on signing up members.

Sconce, Nelson and Walker have spoken to the local rotary clubs. They performed Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus while pitching their idea at the Yosemite High Winter Concert at Bass Lake. And Walker was a hit at the Sierra Springs Village Mobile Home Park's Christmas party.

"He was adorable. So gung-ho," said Cindy Karr, 65. "Everybody was in favor and signed up. It's important to get out and see new releases."

In the first two days of the campaign, 500 people joined, many of them affixing "I'm a Met Hero" stickers to their car bumpers. At last count, 2,633 had committed. No one will be charged unless the plan is a go.

Before the Met went dark last month, moviegoers tended to come early to chat with neighbors, hush up during the show and hang out in the popcorn-scented lobby afterward to critique what they'd seen.

That's what makes movie night in small towns something to be saved, Walker said.

"There's something magical about experiencing a movie with a bunch of other people," he said. "Your couch and a movie theater are not the same thing."

diana.marcum@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Who will back down in Silver Lake building dispute?

It seems that somebody may have to do some tear-down work on Robinson Street in Silver Lake.

But will the demolition require a bulldozer, or merely a sledgehammer?

Homeowner Richard Kaye wants a three-story house being built within inches of his own 90-year-old home knocked down and rebuilt farther away.

Developer Chong Lee counters that a corner of a garage and a balcony that wraps around Kaye's house should be removed because they extend as much as five feet beyond the property line.

According to Kaye, Los Angeles building officials improperly ignored the proximity of his house to Lee's when they issued a building permit and allowed construction to begin seven weeks ago.

He alleged that Lee used white-out correction fluid to conceal the outline of Kaye's balcony and garage on the plot plan submitted for approval by the Department of Building and Safety. Kaye points out that the city building code states that "any misrepresentation in any writing submitted to the department" is punishable as a misdemeanor.

"My attorney came out here and talked with Mr. Lee and he said, 'Yeah, I whited it out. An inspector told me to do it,'" Kaye said.

His lawyer, Kevin McDonnell, said the developer admitted doing the deed during a conversation he had with Lee on the street in front of the construction site.

"He showed me his plans. They showed the projections shown initially on the approved plans had been whited out. You could see it. He said it was suggested that they do it and the city supervisor knew there was white-out on the plans," McDonnell said.

Lee did not dispute that account but noted that the city is well aware that his new house is within arm's reach of a corner of Kaye's balcony.

"His house is shown in many other places. I think they didn't want it shown, but it's shown on many copies of the plans," Lee said. He stressed that his project meets all city setback requirements and speculated that Kaye's balcony was built without a permit.

"It doesn't look like it was engineered correctly. The balcony is really dangerous. It's old. Code enforcement will evaluate it," Lee said. "I feel bad for him.... I wanted to work it out with him."

Although houses built in the 1920s such as Kaye's could be built right up to the property line, homes such as Lee's must be at least 7 feet, 3 inches from the lot boundary.

The dispute involves two pie-shaped parcels on a curving hillside street between the 101 Freeway and Sunset Boulevard. Many of the homes in the area were built in the '20s, with some of the steeper lots left undeveloped for decades.

When completed, Lee's house will feature a modern look and will zigzag down the hill from Robinson.

Kaye has asked officials to void Lee's building permit on grounds that his plans were approved "without a complete disclosure of the dimensions of my house and its proximity to the house" being constructed.

"My house was built in 1923 and I bought it in 2002. There are city plot plans going back more than 50 years, establishing the property lines," he said, adding that everything on his property has been built with permits. "My lot as reflected in the plot plan from the files is actually significantly larger" than Lee's plot plan indicates that it is.

After Kaye, owner of the Koda sushi restaurant and sake bar on Sunset, complained to Silver Lake-area City Councilman Eric Garcetti's office that Lee's house is too close, aides asked building and safety officials to investigate the permit approval and the alleged white-out incident.

"If what the homeowner says is true, it's an unacceptable and outrageous defrauding of the city," said Yusef Robb, Garcetti's deputy chief of staff. "We've contacted the Department of Building and Safety and asked for a full investigation."

Luke Zamperini, chief inspector with the department's inspections bureau, said officials are unaware of anyone from the department suggesting that the plot plan be altered and will investigate if further information is provided.

"We don't normally ask to see the buildings next door," Zamperini said of building permits. "So far, we haven't been able to find permits for the balcony or garage."

If Kaye can't prove that they were built with a permit or that they were constructed before the parcel containing his house and Lee's was split into two lots, at least part of the balcony and garage will probably have to be torn down, he said.

If anyone has evidence that the balcony and garage had permits or were built before a lot split occurred, tell the city, Zamperini said.

"We'd welcome that," he said. "It could change the direction of the way things are going."

bob.pool@latimes.com

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More