Ventura County

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California Wildfire Explodes to Nearly 15K Acres in Hours

3.5K structures threatened, thousands under evacuation orders

(Newser) - California was lashed by powerful winds Wednesday that fed a fast-moving wildfire, which destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee as forecasters warned of the potential for "extreme and life-threatening" blazes, the AP reports. Northwest of Los Angeles, the Mountain Fire exploded in size and...

Nearly 50 Years Later, Man Charged in Deaths of 3 Women

Authorities say Mississippi's Warren Alexander strangled victims in 1977 in Southern California

(Newser) - A 73-year-old man has been charged in the strangulation deaths of three Southern California women in 1977 after cold case detectives obtained a DNA match, authorities said Thursday, adding they believe there could be more victims. Warren Luther Alexander of Diamondhead, Mississippi, made his first court appearance Thursday, but arraignment...

Utility to Pay $80M Over 2017 California Wildfire

Under the terms, Southern California Edison does not accept blame

(Newser) - Southern California Edison has agreed to pay $80 million in connection with a huge 2017 wildfire that destroyed more than 1,000 homes and other structures. Federal prosecutors said Monday that the deal, in which the utility does not admit fault or wrongdoing, will settle claims on behalf of the...

'Tremendous Wave Energy' Sends 8 to Hospital in California

Rogue wave crashes down on bystanders at Ventura's Pierpont Beach

(Newser) - "It's really exciting," one local said earlier this week of the giant waves that have been slamming into the California coastline of late, attracting gawkers who appear unfazed by the potential danger. A group of bystanders in the southern part of the state got more excitement on...

Crash Survivor, 18, Saved in White-Knuckle Rescue

Helicopter crew members pull woman from rocks below Pacific Coast Highway after crash

(Newser) - Late last year, California's Ventura County acquired a new state-of-the-art helicopter to be used in search and rescue operations by the county's Aviation Unit. As a heart-stopping video that emerged last week shows, that chopper is already paying off big time. The footage originally released on the division'...

Police Find Missing California Mom's Body, Announce Arrest

Rachel Castillo, a mother with two young sons, was missing for three days

(Newser) - Police in the small southern California city of Simi Valley delivered grim news Monday to family and friends of Rachel Castillo, a 25-year-old mother of two who went missing last week. Per People , Castillo’s sister called 911 last Thursday after finding signs of a struggle in the apartment that...

Spears' Ex Hears Fate Over Wedding Crash

Jason Alexander convicted of trespassing after showing up uninvited at star's June nuptials

(Newser) - A man once briefly married to Britney Spears has been convicted of aggravated trespassing and battery at the pop star's June wedding. Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded no contest to the two misdemeanor counts in a California court, prosecutors in Ventura County announced Thursday. The Ventura County judge sentenced him...

8th-Grader Records Teacher's Eyebrow-Raising Comments

Calif. middle school teacher went on anti-vax political rant, told students Trump was still president

(Newser) - Is there something in the water in California? Last week, a high school teacher in the northern part of the state took some heat after airing his apparent political views via a class quiz . Now, a middle school history teacher in a town further south is making headlines for her...

Employee Files Report Against Spears

Lawyer says there's nothing to the accusation that the star struck a housekeeper

(Newser) - Sheriff's officials in California have opened a misdemeanor battery investigation after an employee reported being struck by pop star Britney Spears. Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Spears' house on Monday night, Yahoo Entertainment reports, after being called by a staff member. The sheriff's department said...

Heather Locklear Sentenced to Mental Health Facility

'Melrose Place' actress avoids jail, will spend 30 days in treatment center after 2018 incidents

(Newser) - Heather Locklear had a rough 2018, with an arrest in February , then again in June . Now the 57-year-old Melrose Place actress, who's long struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse problems , is trying to get help and take responsibility for her actions. That's what sources tell TMZ...

Off California, Something 'Like the Loch Ness Monster'

Basking sharks are making a comeback

(Newser) - Sharks as long as a small bus prowl at the water's surface, their mouths open wide in search of lunch. And the crowd goes wild. That's been the scene lately off the coast of Southern California, where gentle giant basking sharks have been turning up in numbers not...

Heather Locklear Is Arrested Again
Heather Locklear
Is Arrested Again
Jun 25, 2018 9:20 AM CDT

Heather Locklear Is Arrested Again

She's accused of drunken attack on police officer, EMT

(Newser) - Heather Locklear's sad downward spiral seems to be escalating. The 56-year-old was arrested yet again Sunday night and accused of assaulting a police officer and an EMT, reports TMZ . She is currently being held in California's Ventura County Jail on $20,000 bail and awaiting a court appearance...

Suit: While in Custody, Deputies Ripped Off My Hijab

Jennifer Hyatt says Ventura County officers yanked off her hijab while she was in custody

(Newser) - What started out as a husband-wife incident has led to a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's office in California's Ventura County after the wife says deputies forcibly removed her head scarf while in custody. The Los Angeles Times reports on the case of nurse Jennifer Hyatt, 44, who...

Cops: Homeless Stranger Fatally Stabbed Diner

Man was attacked with daughter on lap

(Newser) - A man having dinner with his 5-year-old daughter on his lap was fatally stabbed in what appears to have been a random, unprovoked attack, police in California say. Homeless man Jamal Jackson, 49, was arrested and charged with premeditated first-degree murder after the attack on 35-year-old Anthony Mele at a...

Wife Sentenced for Murder of Olympic Bronze Medalist

Jane Laut handed 2 consecutive 25-year-to-life terms

(Newser) - The wife of a 1984 Olympic medalist was sentenced to a potential life sentence on Tuesday for shooting him in what she claimed was self-defense following years of abuse. Jane Laut, 59, was given two mandatory, consecutive prison terms of 25 years to life for first-degree murder and using a...

LA-Bound Train Plows Into Truck, Driver Flees

Some 30 injuries reported; driver has been apprehended

(Newser) - At least 30 people were reportedly injured after a Los Angeles-bound commuter train plowed into a truck on the tracks early today, reports KTLA , with three cars of the Metrolink train derailing and falling onto their sides. The crash, in Ventura County some 65 miles northwest of LA, was reported...

California Wildfire Burns Path to the Sea

Winds poised to worsen flames that have scorched 8K acres

(Newser) - Authorities are warning of "extreme fire danger" as Southern California wildfires continue to rage , having already cut a 10-mile path to the Pacific. The Springs Fire already scorched 8,000 acres of land, and it's putting 2,000 homes at risk, CNN reports. Winds today of some 35mph...

Cessnas Collide in Midair Over SoCal

One pilot dies, the other lands on golf course

(Newser) - Two Cessnas collided over Southern California yesterday afternoon, and those aboard one of the planes miraculously survived. That plane managed to land, with its landing gear still up, on a Westlake Golf Course fairway; the three people on board reported only minor injuries. But the other plane, also a single-engine...

68K Pot Plants Found in California Mountains

Authorities call it a record seizure

(Newser) - Call it a pot bust with a capital "B." Authorities in California discovered the largest outdoor grow operation in Ventura County history last week: some 68,500 plants worth an estimated $205 million growing in the mountains of the Los Padres National Forest. That's not all investigators...

California Town Retreats From Rising Sea

Ventura spends $4.5M on 'managed retreat' operation

(Newser) - The California coastal town of Ventura is spending $4.5 million dollars on its popular Surfers Point to "back off" from increasing coastal erosion and rising water levels—a fate that awaits much of the US coastline, reports the Los Angeles Times . The project involves ripping out a seaside...

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