Law Enforcement

$50,000 reward to be offered in slaying of L.A. chiropractor
Members of the Los Angeles Police Department and Councilman Paul Koretz will hold a news conference Thursday morning to announce a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who beat to death a popular Palms chiropractor. Robert Rainey, 54, was discovered on the floor of the lobby of his office early in the morning on May 31 by his first patient of the day. His head had been bludgeoned.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek information about drivers who hit, killed man, 66
Los Angeles police are still searching for two hit-and-run drivers who struck and killed a 66-year-old man in South Los Angeles. The man was crossing outside the crosswalk on Central Avenue south of 42nd Place about 1:50 a.m. Sunday when a silver Pontiac Grand Am with chrome rims traveling north on Central hit him. The Pontiac drove on, leaving the man lying in the road. Minutes later another vehicle ran over the man and dragged him nearly 200 feet. That vehicle was described as a green Chevrolet Suburban with tinted windows.
Los Angeles Times

1 man killed, 2 wounded in Westchester shooting
One man was killed and two were badly wounded Thursday evening in a shooting in Westchester, authorities said. The shooting in the 5700 block of West Centinela Avenue was reported at 6 p.m. According to Los Angeles fire officials, one victim was pronounced dead at the scene, one was critically injured, and one was in serious condition. The two wounded victims were taken to a hospital. Los Angeles Police Department Det. Gus Villanueva said initial information suggested there were two male suspects, but he did not have a description of them.
Los Angeles Times

Van Nuys mother arrested on suspicion of child abuse; year-old-son hospitalized
A Van Nuys woman whose year-old boy was injured was behind bars Thursday on suspicion of child abuse, police said. Investigators believe the abuse occurred in the 6500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, one block north of Victory Boulevard, in Van Nuys, said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. Paramedics were called at 7:53 p.m. Wednesday and the boy was flown by air ambulance from Van Nuys High School to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott.
Los Angeles Daily News

Drug dealer lives in home searched in missing Fox executive case
A man who lives at the West Hills home searched in connection with the disappearance of Gavin Smith said Thursday he had never met the missing 20th Century Fox executive. John Creech lives at the home along with his wife, Chandrika Creech, who is listed in public records as the property owner. Chandrika Creech met Smith in therapy, according to a source familiar with the case who did not want to be named because the investigation is ongoing.
Los Angeles Times

Serial rapist condemned to death for murder of teenage girl
A South Los Angeles serial rapist was sentenced to death Thursday for sexually assaulting and suffocating a 16-year-old girl, whose body was wrapped in a comforter, set ablaze and then dumped in an alley. Latece Megale Brown smiled and laughed as he spoke to his lawyers in a downtown courtroom during a hearing in which Superior Court Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr. described the killing as a "cold, vicious murder."
Los Angeles Times

After cleanup, LAPD to enforce sidewalk rules
After months of overlooking a pair of regulations that prohibit blocking public sidewalks, the Los Angeles Police Department is now hardening its stance on the rules. Police officers in Central Division are being directed to enforce a city law against sitting or sleeping on sidewalks during the day, and another law that forbids people from leaving their property on sidewalks, said Central Area Capt. Horace Frank. The move is an attempt by Central officials to capitalize on newly sanitized Skid Row streets, Frank said.
LA Downtown News

Immigration

California border crossing sees most deportations
The San Ysidro port of entry - which separates Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego County - is the busiest land border crossing in the world, with more than 30 million people crossing into the country from Mexico last year alone, according to government statistics. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also has used San Ysidro more than any other border crossing to deport Mexicans back to their country, according to an analysis of government data by California Watch.
California Watch

City Government

Los Angeles city pools are ready to cool Saturday
Los Angeles opens its city swimming pools for the summer on Saturday - and, next month, a spectacular new one in Reseda Park. Thirty-four seasonal pools will join the 16 year-round swim facilities operated by the Recreation and Parks Department's Aquatic Division. A little less than half of the total number are in the Valley region. All the city's pools will be open for this summer season, but the seasonal ones will close a few weeks earlier than in previous years.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. Economy

State Budget

California's budget deal cuts welfare, health care
California will close its projected $15.7 billion budget deficit by restructuring the state's welfare program, streamlining health insurance for low-income children, and reducing child care coverage and college aid, as part of a deal Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic leaders announced Thursday. The governor and lawmakers provided only broad outlines of the cuts and few hard dollar figures, but Brown said the deal met his demand for permanent welfare reform and is enough that he now is willing to sign the main budget bill Democratic legislators sent him last week.
Associated Press