Law Enforcement

2 suspects in botched USC robbery deaths charged with murder
Two men suspected in the shooting deaths of two USC graduate students from China during a botched robbery were charged Tuesday with capital murder. Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, were charged with the April 11 killings of Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23. The electrical engineering students were attacked while they sat in Qu's double-parked, 2003 BMW in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue, not far from the USC campus, during a downpour.
City News Service

No felony charges to be filed against Dodgers beating suspects
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined on Tuesday to file felony charges against four men who were arrested in connection with a fight in a Dodger Stadium parking lot after Sunday night's game. Prosecutors referred the case to the City Attorney's Office, which will consider whether to file misdemeanor charges.
Los Angeles Daily News

Federal weapons charges filed against Bryan Stow beating suspects
Federal weapons charges have been filed against two men suspected in the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium last year, prosecutors said Tuesday. The complaint against Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 31, charges both with being a felon in possession of firearms, according to Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Associated Press

Bodies of 2 women found in South L.A. apartment
The decomposed bodies of two women were found in an apartment in South Los Angeles after neighbors smelled a foul odor and called authorities, police said. The bodies were discovered around 3:50 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of West 81st Street between Vermont Avenue and Hoover Street, said Officer Wendy Reyes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.
City News Service

Election 2012

Daily News won't endorse in judicial races
The Daily News of Los Angeles has abstained from making endorsements in judicial races this year. An editorial on Sunday explains: "The editorial page staff has neither the resources nor the expertise to weigh candidates and make endorsements in judicial races." To guide readers, it recites the ratings of candidates by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise

State Budget

Jerry Brown struggles on three fronts on state budget
As the state budget's deficit widens, Gov. Jerry Brown is being thrust into a three-front political battle He must not only persuade voters to pass his sales and income tax package, but, implicitly, persuade them to reject a rival tax measure just for schools. Meanwhile, Brown is pressing liberal Democratic legislators to ignore their political DNA by making deeper cuts in health and welfare programs, not only to close the deficit but to bolster appeals to voters for new taxes.
Sacramento Bee

The Economy

Registrations show new-vehicle increase in California
New-vehicle registrations statewide rose nearly 18 percent in this year's first quarter compared with the year-ago period, according to the latest report released by the Sacramento-based California New Car Dealers Association. CNCDA said registrations of new cars and light trucks, including fleet sales, totaled 394,800 in the first three months this year, up from 335,408 in the first quarter of 2011.
Sacramento Bee