Tag Archives: los angeles

CELEBRITY BURGLARIES JUST PART OF L.A. CRIME EXPLOSION

Hollywood celebrities are being hit left and right by burglars … but as far as the crooks are concerned they’re nobody special, because high-end break-ins are out of control this year.

TMZ broke the story, Dodgers star Yasiel Puig was the latest to be hit, with thieves making off with more than half a mil in jewelry. Other celebs hit include Alanis Morissette, Cesar Millan and Derek Fisher.

Law enforcement tells us … they believe the celebs were not targeted because they flaunted their jewelry and other riches on social media. The sources say these celebs all live in ritzy areas of L.A., and there has been an influx of criminals because California has recently opened the prison doors.

Recent laws have addressed terrible prison overcrowding by ordering the release of a number of non-violent criminals. There are also drug offenses that have been reduced from felonies to misdemeanors.

Our sources say a number of the people released are burglars, and now that they’re out they’re going back to what they know. As a result, there has been an explosion of burglaries in the L.A. area.

And there’s something else. We’re told a number of people who were hit, including some of the celebs who have become victims, did not turn their alarms on because they assumed it wasn’t necessary since they live in what they believed were safe areas.

Read Full – http://www.tmz.com/2017/03/07/burglaries-celebrities-prison-release-los-angeles/

Los Angeles County Sues State Over Political Boundaries Law

Los Angeles County is suing over a new state law it says discriminates against more than 1 million voters while taking away the power of the Board of Supervisors to draw its own political boundaries

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles County is suing over a new state law it says discriminates against more than 1 million voters while taking away the power of the Board of Supervisors to draw its own political boundaries.

The lawsuit aims to block the 2016 law that creates a 14-member commission to draw boundaries for county supervisor districts after the 2020 census.

Commission members would be chosen from political parties, the lawsuit says, unfairly excluding about a quarter of county voters who register with no party preference and comprise the fastest-growing portion of newly registered voters.

Aides to state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles, who wrote the law, said Tuesday that the intent of SB958 is to include those independent voters on the commission.

“If the citizens redistricting commission is good enough for the state Legislature and Congress, it should be good enough for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors,” Lara said in a statement.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court says the law illegally takes away local control, unfairly applies only to Los Angeles County and makes the process more political. Based on current registration, 70 percent of commissioners would be Democrats, 25 percent Republicans and 5 percent from smaller political parties, the lawsuit states.

“I think that’s a valid concern, but it’s also a valid concern that politicians shouldn’t be drawing their own district lines. So there are competing benefits on both sides,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation. She was not involved in passing the law.

Read Full – https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-02-28/los-angeles-county-sues-state-says-1-million-voters-harmed

Sumner Redstone paid millions to mistresses and others who gave him ‘sexual favors,’ legal filing says

That must have been a hell of a flight.

Media titan Sumner Redstone gave out many millions of dollars to multiple women — mistresses, a flight attendant and that attendant’s sister — according to legal documents filed Monday by his 45-year-old ex-girlfriend.

The CBS corporate jet flight attendant alone got $18 million — and her sister, whom Redstone allegedly bedded, received a cool $6 million from the randy billionaire, court filings claim.

The explosive allegations by former Redstone paramour Sydney Holland were accompanied by a warning that she “may be forced” to seek testimony from the 93-year-old mogul’s celebrity friends as well as from executives from Viacom and CBS, whose shares he controls, to substantiate her salacious claims.

Redstone’s legal team, in an emailed statement to CNBC, said, “Ms. Holland’s cross-complaint is a work of fiction punctuated by not-so-subtle threats of extortion and an overwhelming stench of greed.”

In her Los Angeles Superior Court filing, Holland said Redstone “gave tens of millions of dollars to various other women — who he had no intention of marrying and was not in love with — at the time he was engaged to marry” Holland.

Full Article – http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/12/redstone-allegedly-paid-millions-to-mistresses-and-others-while-getting-sexual-favors.html

Drew Barrymore officially files for divorce from Will Kopleman

Drew Barrymore has officially filed for divorce from Will Kopleman.

The 41-year-old actress reportedly filed official papers in a Manhattan court in New York on Friday (07.15.16), three months after announcing the end of their four-year marriage.

The divorce documents describe Barrymore’s petition as “uncontested”, according to the New York Daily News newspaper.

Barrymore and art consultant Kopelman, who wed in June 2012, have two daughters together – Olive, three, and Frankie, two – and said when they announced their split that their girls were their “first priority”.

Since then, Barrymore, who has been married twice before, and her estranged husband have divided their time between New York and Los Angeles in a bid to share parenting responsibilities.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the Hollywood star is set to become a talk show host.

The ‘Miss You Already’ actress is reportedly in talks about being at the helm of her own chat show in a joint deal with Warner Bros. and Ellen DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production company.

Despite her marriage troubles, Barrymore previously revealed the “strength” and joy she takes from being with her children.

When asked what makes her happy, she shared: “Just strength. Now that I’m a mom, and I know that it harkens back to the girls, aside from that, it really is girl power, badass. It is strength, clarity, conviction, health and focus …

“It’s funny, because there are times in my life that I am so loosey-goosey, so hedonistic, and it is so just ‘hippy-dippy,’ but right now I feel this great backbone is, ‘One foot in front of the other,’ which is sort of my attitude right now. That is anything but loosey-goosey – that if you don’t stay in a straight line, you are going to get into trouble.”

Sourced From – http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/6770467-drew-barrymore-officially-files-for-divorce-from-will-kopleman/

L.A. Now California: This just in LOCAL L.A. Now Violent crime in California rose 10% in 2015, state attorney general says

By Bettina Boxall

After two years of decline, the number of violent crimes in California rose by 10% in 2015, although the overall crime rate remained among the lowest in decades.

The numbers were up in all major categories of violent crime compared with those of 2014, according to reports released Friday by the state attorney general’s office.

Homicides increased 9.7%, and robbery and aggravated assault climbed by more than 8%.

Hate crimes followed the same trend, with a 10.4% jump. The vast majority of the uptick involved religious bias. Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish incidents were up, as were those targeting Latinos.

Although the number of burglaries dropped, total property crimes climbed by 8.1%, driven by a significant rise in motor vehicle thefts.

Despite the upswing, overall violent and property crime rates per 100,000 were lower last year than in 2010, and remained dramatically lower than the peaks of the 1980s and 1990s.

Statewide, 1,861 people were slain in 2015, compared with more than 4,000 in 1993.

In 2009, the number of homicides across California dipped below 2,000 for the first time since 1974 and has fluctuated below that number ever since.

Read Full Article – http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-violent-crimes-20160701-snap-story.html