LA SUES TO STOP REOPENING OF URBAN OIL FIELD: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles is suing to stop an energy company from reopening an urban oil field blamed for causing chronic respiratory illnesses and nosebleeds in a South LA neighborhood.
The suit filed Tuesday by City Attorney Mike Feuer accuses Allenco Energy of ignoring years of evidence that fumes were sickening residents in University Park.
In November the company voluntarily suspended operations at the request of Sen. Barbara Boxer. Since then pollution and reports of respiratory ailments have dropped.
Allenco has been cited by numerous agencies for safety and air pollution violations.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health has called for a comprehensive audit of the facility to better determine the health hazards its poses.
CARETAKER HURT TRYING TO SAVE GROUP HOME RESIDENTS: SANTA ANA (AP) — The caretaker at a California group home for developmentally disabled adults that burned to the ground Wednesday tried to beat back the flames with a blanket before dragging two residents outside, but she was unable to rescue two others as the fire spread, authorities said.
The 71-year-old caretaker rushed back into the house by a back door, where flames were less intense, but she was finally rescued herself by firefighters as she cried out for the two women she couldn't save. The names of the caretaker and the dead were not released.
The caretaker, who was severely burned on her face and arms, had such a close bond with residents of the home that they called her Mommy and she called them her kids, even though most were elderly, neighbors said.
"Our firefighters went in and pulled her out. She was saying, 'My kids, my kids,'" Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Steve Concialdi said. "It was an endearing term. She loved the residents she cared for."
Two residents, 48 and 52, died and five people were injured, including a firefighter and the caretaker.
One of the people killed was found in her bed. The other was discovered on the floor next to a bed in a second bedroom.
MAP: QUAKE FAULT RUNS THROUGH HOLLYWOOD PROJECT: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A draft of a new state earthquake map shows a fault running through the heart of Hollywood and under the proposed site of a development that includes two skyscrapers.
The California Geological Survey on Wednesday issued a preliminary map showing that a segment of the 10-mile Hollywood Fault system runs through the site of Millennium Hollywood — a million-square-foot development — and right under the nearby Capitol Records building.
State law forbids building some structures atop an active fault but survey head John Parrish says more study is needed to determine the fault's exact proximity to the skyscrapers.
Developer Millennium Hollywood says it had suspected the Hollywood Fault lay in the vicinity but tests found no evidence of an active fault on the site.
LA DEPUTIES SEIZE GUNS, WHITE SUPREMACIST MATERIAL: PALMDALE . (AP) — Three men were arrested and more than a dozen weapons were seized after deputies discovered an underground bunker, a shooting range, and white supremacist paraphernalia in northern Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/1a0DpJu) a search warrant was served Tuesday at a property in the Littlerock area of the Antelope Valley. The case began three weeks ago after guns were stolen from a storage unit in nearby Palmdale.
The seized weapons, some of them allegedly stolen, included six pistols and 11 rifles. Detectives also recovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition
The three men arrested were identified as 54-year-old Todd Hunt, 33-year-old Royce Gresham and 62-year-old Larry Finnell, all of Littlerock.
