Law Enforcement

Warrant issued for deported 'backpack bandit'
A man authorities nicknamed the "backpack bandit," who snatched necklaces from around women's necks in downtown Los Angeles, has been charged and a warrant issued for his arrest. Adan Peralta, 25, has already been deported to Mexico, but Los Angeles police say they want to be ready with an arrest warrant because they expect him to return. He has been arrested and deported multiple times, most recently in April, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles Times

White powder found in letter sent to CBS TV studios
Authorities are testing an unknown white powder found in a letter envelope at CBS television studios Tuesday afternoon. Police and firefighters responded to the 7800 block of Beverly Boulevard just before 3 p.m. after someone at the facility opened an envelope containing the substance. The powder was being tested by the LAPD, said department spokeswoman Karen Rayner. The letter was opened in an isolated area of the building and officials said there were no evacuations.
Los Angeles Times

Clark Gable's grandson charged with pointing laser at LAPD copter
Frankly, authorities give a damn. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office Tuesday filed felony charges against the grandson of legendary actor Clark Gable for allegedly pointing a laser at an LAPD helicopter last month while it circled over Hollywood, authorities said. Clark James Gable, 22, of Canoga Park was charged with three felony counts of discharging a laser at an aircraft. He faces up to three years in state prison if convicted of all counts, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.
Los Angeles Times

Health Care

Feds cracking down on health care fraud
The federal government is on track to prosecute nearly twice as many health care fraud cases compared with last year, renewing criticism of the government's "pay and chase" system of paying health care claims rapidly and pursuing fraud later. The data is from a report released last week by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a project based at Syracuse University that tracks federal prosecutions.
California Watch

Prisons and Parole

California $382,519 prison doctor shows budget gaps don't bar big salaries
Jeffrey Wang closed his struggling medical practice in Visalia, California, in 2007 to take a job as a physician treating inmates in Corcoran State Prison, where murderer Charles Manson is locked up. "The first few months I regretted it," the 54-year-old Wang said in telephone interview from the prison, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. "But the pay was much higher and the benefits were much better." Wang made $382,519 in 2010, including overtime and extra- duty compensation.
Bloomberg

The costliest executions in America
Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978, it has cost taxpayers $4 billion over and above what it would have cost had the maximum punishment been life in prison without possibility of parole. Further, the state is poised to spend nearly $1 billion on a new Death Row that is designed to house 1,000 condemned inmates and is likely to be filled to capacity by 2014. The study's conclusion and its timing hit Senate Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, like a lightning bolt.
Ventura County Star

Legislation

California lawmaker proposes getting tough on fighting fans
Tens of thousands of pumped-up fans. Testosterone. Beer. Tailgating. Even guns. That combustible mix led to a storm of violence at Saturday's 49ers-Raiders game at Candlestick Park. Now, it has spawned a rash of remedies -- including a legislative proposal Tuesday to get tough on fighting fans. But just exactly how will the 49ers carry out their stepped-up pledge to bar troublemakers from ever entering the turnstile? For one, a team spokesman said Tuesday, they'll be looking harder than ever for fans who drink too much -- even before the game.
San Jose Mercury News