JUDY GARLAND'S 'WIZARD OF OZ' DRESS UP FOR AUCTION: LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dorothy dress is going up for auction.
Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien says Judy Garland's original costume from "The Wizard of Oz" could sell for half a million dollars when it hits the auction block next month.
The white puff-sleeve blouse and blue gingham pinafore has inspired countless Halloween costumes since the film was released in 1939. Although several identical dresses were made for the production, the dress to be sold is the only version seen in the film and the only complete original dress to survive.
The outfit will be on view at London's Stafford Hotel beginning Tuesday, before being exhibited at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., Nov. 5-9, prior to the auction Nov. 9-10.
DANNY DEVITO, RHEA PERLMAN SPLIT AFTER 30 YEARS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman are breaking up.
A spokesman for DeVito says the couple is separating after 30 years of marriage. Publicist Stan Rosenfield offered no other details.
DeVito and Perlman married in 1982 and have three adult children. The couple worked together on TV's "Taxi" from 1978 to 1982.
Together, the couple established the production company Jersey Films, which counts "Pulp Fiction," ''Erin Brockovich" and "Out of Sight" among its credits.
DeVito stars in TV's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Perlman is best known for her long-running role on "Cheers."
MAN ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY STEALING 3 CARS: FRESNO (AP) — A parolee has been arrested in the Fresno area after allegedly stealing three vehicles — two of them while trying to flee authorities.
The Fresno Bee (bit.ly/QOXLMr) says the 26-year-old man was arrested Sunday morning after a brief chase.
The California Highway Patrol says its officers were following the man, who was in a stolen car, when he suddenly stopped and ran off.
Lt. Patrick Hanson says he got into a truck with a trailer and drove it two blocks, then dumped it and stole a flatbed truck.
CHP officers and Fresno County sheriff's deputies chased the man and caught him when the truck crashed into a fence on the side of the county coroner's office.
BURGLARY SUSPECT'S GPS BRACELET LEADS TO ARREST: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police have arrested a burglary suspect after tracing his movements from a GPS monitor he wore while allegedly commiting the crime.
A police statement says 48-year-old Wilbert Matheney was arrested last week on suspicion of stealing a laptop computer from a woman in a Sylmar home in August.
Neighbors told detectives that the burglar's description matched that of a local man and mentioned that there was a group home for sexual offenders two blocks away.
Investigators determined that many of the convicted sex offenders in the home — including Matheney — wore monitors. Police say data from Matheny's ankle bracelet put him in the home at the time of the burglary.
HONOLULU DROWNING VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS MODESTO MAN : HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities have identified the victim of a drowning in southeast Honolulu as 27-year-old Daniel Lowe of Modesto, Calif.
Fire officials say Lowe died Saturday at Spitting Caves, a cliff-diving area in southeast Oahu.
Authorities say Lowe jumped into the water but was unable to climb up a nearby cliff.
GROUP SAYS FRACKING USED NEAR CENTRAL CAL FOREST: VENTURA . (AP) — An environmental group says wells near a Central California forest are using fracking, an oil and gas extraction method that some fear can contaminate groundwater.
Los Padres ForestWatch says hydraulic fracturing was used in at least four wells last year and three wells this year in the Sespe (SEHS'-pee) Oil Field near Los Padres National Forest.
Fracking involves pumping pressurized water into rock to fracture it and release hydrocarbons. The federal Bureau of Land Management said last year that fracking may have occurred in virtually all of the 200 wells in the Sespe field.
Western States Petroleum Association spokesman Tupper Hull tells the Ventura County Star (bit.ly/Q5VdXJ) that there type of fracking used in California differs from that used elsewhere. He says there have been no reported impacts on groundwater.
LAWMAKER DROPS BID FOR OPEN STATE SENATE SEAT: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Citing health reasons, a state assemblyman is dropping his bid to run in a special election for an open legislative seat.
Election officials said Monday that Assemblyman Dan Logue's name will still appear on the Nov. 6 ballot in the special primary election for the 4th Senate District.
Logue is one of six candidates listed for the open seat of former state Sen. Doug La Malfa, who is running for Congress.
The district runs from north of Sacramento to the Oregon border. A runoff will be held in January if no candidate wins more than half the vote next month.
Logue's campaign manager, Cliff Wagner, says doctors told Logue to rest while he recovers from a medical condition. The Republican from Linda will instead run for re-election to the Assembly.
INSURANCE EXEC GIVES ANOTHER $8M TO INITIATIVE: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Billionaire insurance executive George Joseph has donated another $8 million to his November ballot initiative.
The weekend contribution brings his total to $16 million in support of Proposition 33, which would let insurers charge drivers based on their history of maintaining coverage.
Joseph on Monday said campaign officials had asked for another $10 million, but he made a slightly smaller donation because he thought "with 16 or so million, you ought to be able to run a pretty good campaign."
The Mercury General Corp. chairman contributed the same amount to a similar initiative that was defeated two years ago. Opponents have raised about $100,000.
The initiative would allow insurers to lower rates for drivers who maintain insurance coverage and raise them for drivers who dropped coverage in the past.
