CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
Wildfire erupts in windy Southern California
BANNING, Calif. (AP) - Southern California fire officials say a wildfire that broke out just after noon is raging through 1,500 acres of Riverside County near Banning, fueled by 29 mph winds.
The fire is raging westward through largely undeveloped foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, but it is dangerously close to subdivisions to the south.
County fire spokeswoman Jody Hagemann says at least 425 firefighters are working to gain control of the fast-moving fire that broke out Wednesday and has destroyed one structure.
Evacuations and street closures are in effect in several neighborhoods to the south of the fire in Banning.
If winds from the east continue driving flames westward, the fire could affect communities in Cherry Valley and Beaumont.
Much of Southern California is under red flag warnings for fire danger due to winds, low humidity and heat.
IMMIGRATION MARCHES-SAN FRANCISCO
Hundreds march in SF May Day protest
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hundreds of demonstrators marched toward San Francisco's City Hall in the first of at least two protests planned in the city on May Day.
Wednesday afternoon's protest included immigrants, labor activists and supporters who walked and chanted in the city's Mission District on their way to a City Hall rally.
The crowd waived American flags, banged drums and chanted in English and Spanish, with some holding signs saying "Stop Deportation."
The march focused on immigration legislation being considered by Congress, and planned to end with a 5 p.m. rally.
THREE KILLED
Man says wife, parents killed selves at Calif home
HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. (AP) - A man whose parents and wife were found dead in a home east of Los Angeles says their deaths were suicide and they suffered from mental and chronic illnesses.
Fifty-5-year-old Jim Crabtree identified the three people found dead by Los Angeles County Sheriff's detectives Wednesday as his 80-year-old mother Carol Crabtree, his 84-year-old father Dan Crabtree and his 62-year-old wife Rita Delehanty.
After a 911 call, sheriff's deputies responded to the quiet suburban neighborhood in Hacienda Heights.
Lt. Dave Dolson says investigators found three dead, one woman in the bedroom, one woman in the living room and the man in the backyard.
Dolson says a shotgun and handgun were found near the man's body.
The 911 call was a man's voice and may have come from the house.
BURNING CAR-SUICIDE
Man found dead in burning car committed suicide
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Anaheim police say a man who was found dead in a burning car committed suicide.
The Orange County Register says he's 23-year-old Shimon Phal.
Police and firefighters were called to an apartment complex on April 5 by a report of an explosion and a burning car.
Phal's body was found after the blaze was doused.
Sgt. Bob Dunn says investigators determined that Phal intentionally set the fire that killed him.
Relatives tell the Register that Phal was a psychology student at Cypress College.
LOST HIKERS-METH
Lost Calif. hiker charged with meth possession
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - 1 of the two teenage hikers who were rescued after a 4-day search of Southern California wilderness has been charged with felony methamphetamine possession.
The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that prosecutors charged 19-year-old Nicolas Cendoya after authorities found the drug in his vehicle while responding to their disappearance.
Cendoya and 18-year-old Kyndall Jack called investigators from Holy Jim Canyon on Easter Sunday, saying they were lost and their cellphone was dying.
Cendoya was discovered three days later, dehydrated and delirious. Jack was found the next day, hypothermic and confused.
Both recalled little from their ordeal, beyond hallucinations.
The search to find them required 1,900 man-hours and cost taxpayers an estimated $160,000. A deputy was injured while trying to rescue Jack.
Cendoya faces up to three years in jail if convicted.
INDIAN HEALTH-SETTLEMENT
Indian health group, feds reach settlement
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An Indian health organization and the U.S. attorney for Northern California have reached a settlement in a dispute over the group's use of federal grant money for substance abuse recovery programs.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's office announced Tuesday that the Sacramento-based California Rural Indian Health Board will pay the federal government $532,000 and relinquish $4.6 million in funds from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in July against the organization, a network of tribal health programs.
The lawsuit alleged that the group submitted false claims to the government after instructing service providers to pay for clients' rent, mortgage, utilities and auto repairs, all prohibited expenses under the Access to Recovery programs.
Haag's office said her office would ensure that federal grant funds were used for their intended purpose.
BUSINESS BACKLOG
Governor signs bill to speed up business filings
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation intended to eliminate a two-month delay in processing business paperwork in California.
AB113 takes effect immediately and grants $1.6 million to the Secretary of State's office to process a backlog of 122,000 applications. The office will be required to report to the Legislature monthly about its progress in reducing the backlog.
Brown said in a statement Wednesday that the bill will help California businesses get started and hire more quickly. The forms must be processed before certain companies can hire employees.
State officials say the additional money will help reduce processing times to five to 10 days by November.
Legislation is expected in the coming months to require documents to be processed within five days and to provide money to meet that requirement.
LACMA RENOVATIONS
LACMA to unveil $650-million renovation plans
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles County Museum of Art says it will unveil a $650-million plan for a dramatic new building on its Miracle Mile-area campus.
The Los Angeles Times reports the core of the museum's 1965 campus would be demolished to make way for Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor's new vision for the Wilshire Boulevard museum.
Museum Director Michael Govan says a new generation of donors has been groomed since 2006 to help fund the renovation.
About $450 million is dedicated to construction, with the remaining funds earmarked for contingencies and operations.
The museum will remain open during construction by using 100,000 square feet of space in its other, newer buildings on the campus.
The new preliminary design will be unveiled in an exhibition in June.
INVESTMENT FIRM-MERGER
DA Davidson reaches deal to buy Crowell Weedon
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Great Falls, Mont.-based investment services firm D.A. Davidson & Co. has struck a deal to buy the Los Angeles brokerage and money management group Crowell, Weedon & Co.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
D.A. Davidson officials said in a statement Wednesday the merger would create the largest independent broker-dealer in the western U.S.
The company says its D.A. Davidson Individual Investor Group would have about 465 financial consultants if the deal goes through.
The merger is subject to regulatory approval. The companies expect the deal to close by July 1.
Crowell Weedon employs 340 people and has over $9 billion in assets under management and administration.
D.A. Davidson is a subsidiary of Davidson Companies, which has more than 1,100 employees and managers and administers about $34.5 billion in assets.
CHINA BUS COMPANY
1st Chinese automaker in US to open Calif. Plants
LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) - The first Chinese-owned vehicle manufacturer in the United States has unveiled ambitious plans to build as many as 1,000 electric buses a year at a refurbished RV manufacturing plant in the Mojave Desert.
At a news conference at its new facility Wednesday, BYD officials said the plant should produce the first 10 of its plug-in buses next year.
BYD hopes to be rolling out 50 a year within two years. It aims to be running the plant at full capacity, 1,000 buses a year, within 10 to 20 years.
The buses will be powered by BYD's own rechargeable batteries.
BYD senior vice president Stella Li says the endeavor represents more than a $10 million investment in Lancaster.
She says the plant should eventually employ about 1,000 people.
REAPPEARING SALMON
Calif commercial salmon fishing season opens
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Commercial salmon fishermen are heading to sea from San Francisco and other area ports in what is expected to be a strong fishing season.
The season officially started Wednesday in ports south of Pt. Arena in Mendocino County.
Fishermen are optimistic after hearing positive reports from sport fishermen, who started fishing on April 6.
Federal forecasters called for strong returns to the Sacramento River in California, which accounts for most of the salmon swimming offshore.
That was good news for commercial salmon fishermen, who suffered through fishery closures in 2008 and 2009 after the salmon returns to the Sacramento plummeted.
Larry Collins, manager of the San Francisco Community Fishing Association, says plentiful krill, or tiny shrimp, being consumed by the salmon offshore should make for very flavorful fish.
PEOPLE-DAVID PETRAEUS
Ex-CIA boss David Petraeus takes USC teaching post
LOS ANGELES (AP) - David Petraeus' (peh-TRAY'-uhses) next tough assignment will be in the trenches of academia.
The University of Southern California announced Thursday that the retired general and former CIA director is joining the faculty to teach classes and mentor ROTC members.
Petraeus, who has a doctorate from Princeton University, says in a statement that USC is "a great university that prizes academic excellence."
It's the second teaching appointment for the hero of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
It was announced last month that he'll be a visiting professor at the City University of New York.
At USC, Petraeus will hold the title of Judge Widney Professor, which is named for the university's founder and is reserved for eminent teachers.
Petraeus left the CIA in November after acknowledging an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
OBIT-DEANNA-DURBIN
Early Hollywood teen star Deanna Durbin dies at 91
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Deanna Durbin, the teen sensation whose soprano voice and girl-next-door looks made her 1 of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, has died at age 91.
Family friend Bob Koster, whose father directed 6 of Durbin's films, tells The Associated Press on Wednesday that she died in a village outside Paris in April.
The Canadian-born Durbin made her first feature film "Three Smart Girls" at age 13 and would go on to appear in 20 more.
At the height of her career she was among the world's highest paid actresses, won an honorary Oscar, and counted Anne Frank and Winston Churchill among her fans.
She retired at just 28 and moved to France, remaining out of the public view.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Wildfire erupts in windy Southern California
BANNING, Calif. (AP) - Southern California fire officials say a wildfire that broke out just after noon is raging through 1,500 acres of Riverside County near Banning, fueled by 29 mph winds.
The fire is raging westward through largely undeveloped foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, but it is dangerously close to subdivisions to the south.
County fire spokeswoman Jody Hagemann says at least 425 firefighters are working to gain control of the fast-moving fire that broke out Wednesday and has destroyed one structure.
Evacuations and street closures are in effect in several neighborhoods to the south of the fire in Banning.
If winds from the east continue driving flames westward, the fire could affect communities in Cherry Valley and Beaumont.
Much of Southern California is under red flag warnings for fire danger due to winds, low humidity and heat.
IMMIGRATION MARCHES-SAN FRANCISCO
Hundreds march in SF May Day protest
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hundreds of demonstrators marched toward San Francisco's City Hall in the first of at least two protests planned in the city on May Day.
Wednesday afternoon's protest included immigrants, labor activists and supporters who walked and chanted in the city's Mission District on their way to a City Hall rally.
The crowd waived American flags, banged drums and chanted in English and Spanish, with some holding signs saying "Stop Deportation."
The march focused on immigration legislation being considered by Congress, and planned to end with a 5 p.m. rally.
THREE KILLED
Man says wife, parents killed selves at Calif home
HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. (AP) - A man whose parents and wife were found dead in a home east of Los Angeles says their deaths were suicide and they suffered from mental and chronic illnesses.
Fifty-5-year-old Jim Crabtree identified the three people found dead by Los Angeles County Sheriff's detectives Wednesday as his 80-year-old mother Carol Crabtree, his 84-year-old father Dan Crabtree and his 62-year-old wife Rita Delehanty.
After a 911 call, sheriff's deputies responded to the quiet suburban neighborhood in Hacienda Heights.
Lt. Dave Dolson says investigators found three dead, one woman in the bedroom, one woman in the living room and the man in the backyard.
Dolson says a shotgun and handgun were found near the man's body.
The 911 call was a man's voice and may have come from the house.
BURNING CAR-SUICIDE
Man found dead in burning car committed suicide
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Anaheim police say a man who was found dead in a burning car committed suicide.
The Orange County Register says he's 23-year-old Shimon Phal.
Police and firefighters were called to an apartment complex on April 5 by a report of an explosion and a burning car.
Phal's body was found after the blaze was doused.
Sgt. Bob Dunn says investigators determined that Phal intentionally set the fire that killed him.
Relatives tell the Register that Phal was a psychology student at Cypress College.
LOST HIKERS-METH
Lost Calif. hiker charged with meth possession
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - 1 of the two teenage hikers who were rescued after a 4-day search of Southern California wilderness has been charged with felony methamphetamine possession.
The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that prosecutors charged 19-year-old Nicolas Cendoya after authorities found the drug in his vehicle while responding to their disappearance.
Cendoya and 18-year-old Kyndall Jack called investigators from Holy Jim Canyon on Easter Sunday, saying they were lost and their cellphone was dying.
Cendoya was discovered three days later, dehydrated and delirious. Jack was found the next day, hypothermic and confused.
Both recalled little from their ordeal, beyond hallucinations.
The search to find them required 1,900 man-hours and cost taxpayers an estimated $160,000. A deputy was injured while trying to rescue Jack.
Cendoya faces up to three years in jail if convicted.
INDIAN HEALTH-SETTLEMENT
Indian health group, feds reach settlement
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An Indian health organization and the U.S. attorney for Northern California have reached a settlement in a dispute over the group's use of federal grant money for substance abuse recovery programs.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's office announced Tuesday that the Sacramento-based California Rural Indian Health Board will pay the federal government $532,000 and relinquish $4.6 million in funds from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in July against the organization, a network of tribal health programs.
The lawsuit alleged that the group submitted false claims to the government after instructing service providers to pay for clients' rent, mortgage, utilities and auto repairs, all prohibited expenses under the Access to Recovery programs.
Haag's office said her office would ensure that federal grant funds were used for their intended purpose.
BUSINESS BACKLOG
Governor signs bill to speed up business filings
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation intended to eliminate a two-month delay in processing business paperwork in California.
AB113 takes effect immediately and grants $1.6 million to the Secretary of State's office to process a backlog of 122,000 applications. The office will be required to report to the Legislature monthly about its progress in reducing the backlog.
Brown said in a statement Wednesday that the bill will help California businesses get started and hire more quickly. The forms must be processed before certain companies can hire employees.
State officials say the additional money will help reduce processing times to five to 10 days by November.
Legislation is expected in the coming months to require documents to be processed within five days and to provide money to meet that requirement.
LACMA RENOVATIONS
LACMA to unveil $650-million renovation plans
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles County Museum of Art says it will unveil a $650-million plan for a dramatic new building on its Miracle Mile-area campus.
The Los Angeles Times reports the core of the museum's 1965 campus would be demolished to make way for Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor's new vision for the Wilshire Boulevard museum.
Museum Director Michael Govan says a new generation of donors has been groomed since 2006 to help fund the renovation.
About $450 million is dedicated to construction, with the remaining funds earmarked for contingencies and operations.
The museum will remain open during construction by using 100,000 square feet of space in its other, newer buildings on the campus.
The new preliminary design will be unveiled in an exhibition in June.
INVESTMENT FIRM-MERGER
DA Davidson reaches deal to buy Crowell Weedon
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Great Falls, Mont.-based investment services firm D.A. Davidson & Co. has struck a deal to buy the Los Angeles brokerage and money management group Crowell, Weedon & Co.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
D.A. Davidson officials said in a statement Wednesday the merger would create the largest independent broker-dealer in the western U.S.
The company says its D.A. Davidson Individual Investor Group would have about 465 financial consultants if the deal goes through.
The merger is subject to regulatory approval. The companies expect the deal to close by July 1.
Crowell Weedon employs 340 people and has over $9 billion in assets under management and administration.
D.A. Davidson is a subsidiary of Davidson Companies, which has more than 1,100 employees and managers and administers about $34.5 billion in assets.
CHINA BUS COMPANY
1st Chinese automaker in US to open Calif. Plants
LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) - The first Chinese-owned vehicle manufacturer in the United States has unveiled ambitious plans to build as many as 1,000 electric buses a year at a refurbished RV manufacturing plant in the Mojave Desert.
At a news conference at its new facility Wednesday, BYD officials said the plant should produce the first 10 of its plug-in buses next year.
BYD hopes to be rolling out 50 a year within two years. It aims to be running the plant at full capacity, 1,000 buses a year, within 10 to 20 years.
The buses will be powered by BYD's own rechargeable batteries.
BYD senior vice president Stella Li says the endeavor represents more than a $10 million investment in Lancaster.
She says the plant should eventually employ about 1,000 people.
REAPPEARING SALMON
Calif commercial salmon fishing season opens
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Commercial salmon fishermen are heading to sea from San Francisco and other area ports in what is expected to be a strong fishing season.
The season officially started Wednesday in ports south of Pt. Arena in Mendocino County.
Fishermen are optimistic after hearing positive reports from sport fishermen, who started fishing on April 6.
Federal forecasters called for strong returns to the Sacramento River in California, which accounts for most of the salmon swimming offshore.
That was good news for commercial salmon fishermen, who suffered through fishery closures in 2008 and 2009 after the salmon returns to the Sacramento plummeted.
Larry Collins, manager of the San Francisco Community Fishing Association, says plentiful krill, or tiny shrimp, being consumed by the salmon offshore should make for very flavorful fish.
PEOPLE-DAVID PETRAEUS
Ex-CIA boss David Petraeus takes USC teaching post
LOS ANGELES (AP) - David Petraeus' (peh-TRAY'-uhses) next tough assignment will be in the trenches of academia.
The University of Southern California announced Thursday that the retired general and former CIA director is joining the faculty to teach classes and mentor ROTC members.
Petraeus, who has a doctorate from Princeton University, says in a statement that USC is "a great university that prizes academic excellence."
It's the second teaching appointment for the hero of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
It was announced last month that he'll be a visiting professor at the City University of New York.
At USC, Petraeus will hold the title of Judge Widney Professor, which is named for the university's founder and is reserved for eminent teachers.
Petraeus left the CIA in November after acknowledging an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
OBIT-DEANNA-DURBIN
Early Hollywood teen star Deanna Durbin dies at 91
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Deanna Durbin, the teen sensation whose soprano voice and girl-next-door looks made her 1 of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, has died at age 91.
Family friend Bob Koster, whose father directed 6 of Durbin's films, tells The Associated Press on Wednesday that she died in a village outside Paris in April.
The Canadian-born Durbin made her first feature film "Three Smart Girls" at age 13 and would go on to appear in 20 more.
At the height of her career she was among the world's highest paid actresses, won an honorary Oscar, and counted Anne Frank and Winston Churchill among her fans.
She retired at just 28 and moved to France, remaining out of the public view.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.