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The sound of applause has scarcely died down in the Capitol after last week’s vote to significantly expand Califoia’s requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Proponents who steered the groundbreaking legislation are still basking in the afterglow of an effort that—after seeming on the brink of defeat—deftly mustered unexpected support and reaffirmed the state’s inteational leadership on climate change. But such is the unsentimentality of politics: Someone has to pop the pretty balloons and sweep up the confetti. For all that was achieved by the passage of SB 32—extending the original 2006 law and setting a new target of reducing statewide emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels b...

ONTARIO >> The once-vacant and quiet Meredith property between Vineyard and Archibald avenues began bustling with commercial activity Monday as officials dedicated QVC’s first West Coast distribution center with an opening ceremony. The 1-million-square-foot QVC warehouse was filled with a sea of empty shelving racks Monday, but trucks bringing inventory had arrived and officials expected to begin shipping product out from Ontario this week. They expect to ramp up the operation by the holiday shopping season. The new facility should shrink delivery times up to four days, Jim Reid, vice president of customer logistics, said. “We want to speed that process up for our West Coast customer...

Long Beach’s Plaing Commission will decide Thursday whether to allow plans and permitting for the Belmont Beach and Aquatic Center to move forward. If all the approvals are granted, the $103 million project would move on to the City Council, then the state Coastal Commission. The center is designed to replace the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, which was to down after engineers determined the natatorium was in danger of collapse in the event of an earthquake. The proposed replacement, designed by architect Michael Rotondi, includes two Olympic-sized pools (one inside a structure, the other outside), an indoor diving well, a recreational pool and other amenities. If approved, a transparent oval ...

More than 150 people gathered on June 16 in the Harborview Ballroom of The Reef on the Water to mark the 40th Aual Awards Dier of the Disabled Resources Center. The proceeds from the event, themed “The Road to Ruby,” support DRC’s critical work as a nonresidential Independent Living Center. Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe received a Special Lifetime Service Award for his long-standing support and dedication to the cause of persons with disabilities. Five other awardees included: Cathy Parsa, Community Service Award; J. Cacilia Kim, Civic Leadership Award; Cynde Soto and Jerry Stein, Independent Living Award; Westly Ward and Andrew Swinton, Volunteer of the Year Award, named in memory...

Rio de Janeiro >> As a dark and wet moing on South America’s Atlantic coast slipped into a darker, wetter afteoon, Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara sliced his way across a demanding Olympic Games time trial course of rain-slicked roads, a red, white and black blur of power and efficiency streaking through the gloom. Miles away from Rio’s Olympic venues, both the iconic and the expensive, miles away from the tourists and the foreign network TV compounds along the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Cancellara rocketed through one final convincing reminder that he has been the greatest rider of his generation against the clock. Cancellara recaptured the Olympic Games time trial gold medal he...

A new health center offering free and low-cost services to LGBTQ residents in Long Beach and the surrounding area marked its official grand opening Wednesday inside the St. Mary Medical Center campus. Funded in part by a $650,000 grant from the federal Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, the 7,000-square-foot Long Beach Health Center, which will serve more than 5,000 people each year, is one of the newest neighborhood centers opened by the nonprofit AIDS Project Los Angeles, and APLA Health. The center offers medical, dental and behavioral health care services to the LGBTQ community, including disease prevention counseling, HIV testing, scre...

SAN BERNARDINO >> Inland Regional Center executive director Lavinia Johnson’s eyes beamed as she talks about the outpouring of support from the public, but there were times during a recent hourlong discussion when she became a bit reserved. Associate director Kevin Urtz was much more guarded, especially when it came to discussing the events of eight months ago, Dec. 2. In fact, both said they made an effort to avoid interviews because of conces that sharing the littlest detail will cause their 600 employees to relive that day. Half a year from later, the duo broke their self-imposed silence to express appreciation for the cards, baers, stuffed toys, homemade cookies and all the sentim...

Some progress has been made in processing autopsies and toxicology results at the Losu2009Angeles County coroner’s office, where the head of the department abruptly resigned three months ago because of the number of bodies that had piled up, heavy workloads and staff shortages, according to a recent report. The report, presented to the Losu2009Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday by the chief executive office, was in response to recommendations made to alleviate the backlog at the coroner’s department. Some improvements so far include adding a few more criminologists, placing some employees on a higher pay scale, and launching a study to lea how to retain staff. •RELATED: Outgoing...

Los Angeles police have stepped up their resources while other agencies vowed to remain vigilant after three law enforcement officers were killed and three more were injured Sunday in a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city added resources Sunday to ensure the Los Angeles Police Department, along with other public safety agencies, are better supported. “This includes doubling our (helicopters patrolling the city), shifting Metropolitan Division officers. ... To help back up patrol officers responding to calls for service, and adding additional resources to help screen our 911 calls,” Garcetti said in a statement. The Metropolitan Division, which i...

WASHINGTON >> The Islamic State group’s Twitter traffic has plunged 45 percent in the past two years, the Obama administration says, as the U.S. and its allies have countered messages of jihadi glorification with a flood of online images and statements about suffering and enslavement at the hands of the extremist organization. Among the images: A teddy bear with Arabic writing and messages saying IS “slaughters childhood,” ‘’kills iocence,” ‘’lashes purity” or “humiliates children.” A male hand covering a female’s mouth, saying IS “deprives woman her voice.” A woman in a black niqab (veil), bloody tears coming from a bruised eye, and the caption: “Women under ISIS. Enslaved. Battered. ...

WASHINGTON — A diverse Republican band of Donald Trump haters, conservatives and other rebels have set their sights on derailing the billionaire’s march to their party’s presidential nomination. They’re seeking new supporters, spending money on TV ads, hiring staff and even setting up office space near the Cleveland arena where the party gathers later this month for its national convention. Despite their ongoing effort, Trump is moving steadily toward nailing down the nomination. Here’s why it will be hard for the dissidents to prevail: THE ESTABLISHMENT While many top Republicans have criticized Trump and aounced they won’t go to Cleveland, the party hierarchy has largely been lining up be...

Officials in Signal Hill have paved the way for Auto Center dealerships to expand storage and services. The City Council recently approved an ordinance allowing dealerships at the Auto Center to maintain wholesale facilities and vehicle storage yards, and perform auto body repair, painting, and other services. Officials said dealerships at the Auto Center need additional space for inventory, trade-in vehicles and previously leased vehicles. “As automakers have changed their sales model from buyers ordering cars with options, to actually having that car on site for the buyer to get the day of the purchase, dealerships are in need of more space to carry a larger inventory, as well as providing...

For West Long Beach residents like Alvaro Contreras, a BigRig crash near 33rd Street and Santa Fe Avenue was a terrifying reminder of the neighborhood’s perils. The stretch of Santa Fe Avenue between West Willow Street and 34th Street is accident-prone, Contreras said as he stood outside his apartment building Thursday moing looking out at where the truck had smashed into at least 10 parked vehicles hours before. He and other neighbors say a traffic signal or other calming measures are desperately needed to help protect pedestrians, including children walking to and from several nearby schools. “Everyone is lucky it happened at night,” Contreras said. The crash happened around 1 a.m. in the...

FORT WORTH, Texas >> Two people were killed and several others injured early Saturday in a shooting outside a Texas dance studio during a party involving a group that the facility’s owner said wasn’t authorized to be there. Officers found one victim dead outside Studio 74 in Fort Worth, and several people were transported to hospitals — one of whom died from his injuries, Fort Worth police spokesman Daniel Segura said in a statement. Laura Reyna, owner and artistic director of the studio, called it an unauthorized event. She said she didn’t even know the group of about 60 people was there until one of her instructors called her at 12:45 a.m. to report a commotion at the facility. “I w...

LOS ANGELES >> Hundreds of registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center began a four-day strike today -- the second walkout at the hospital in three months. Officials with the Califoia Nurses Association/National Nurses United union contend the walkout is part of a push for increased staffing levels to improve patient care, but Kaiser officials denied that claim, saying nursing staff ratios at the hospital “meet or exceed state guidelines.” “This strike is not about quality or adequate staffing levels,” according to Kaiser. “The quality of care our teams at LAMC provide has never been higher. In fact, in 2015 LAMC was named one of the Top 10 Best Hospitals in Calif...

ORLANDO >> Tim Hetzner was surrounded by dogs, some resting on their sides, some quietly sitting and each being patted by virtually everyone who passed them in the hotel lobby. They were therapy dogs, 12 in all, and they’d been in this city for five days visiting those affected by the nightclub massacre where 49 people were killed and dozens of others injured. Most had arrived from Chicago. It was Friday moing and the dogs were ready to go out on their deployment again -- this time to the hospital where victims were still being treated for injuries sustained in Sunday’s mass shooting. • RELATED STORY: Doctor in Orlando nightclub shooting remembers chaotic first hours Hetzner said the ...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi special forces battled their way into the center of Fallujah on Friday, capturing a key neighborhood and a govement complex from Islamic State group fighters, and thousands of residents fled as the militants’ grip on the city appeared to crumble. As ISIS fighters abandoned some checkpoints that had kept people bottled up in the city, residents surged to leave, some jumping into the Euphrates River to swim to safety, others picking their way down roads laced with hidden bombs. In some cases, ISIS allowed people to leave only if they took the jihadis’ families with them. Iraqi forces now control around 80 percent of Fallujah, with the remaining militants largely concentrated i...

CLEVELAND — Golden State center Andrew Bogut will need six to eight weeks to recover from a left knee injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the NBA Finals and almost certainly affecting his Olympic plans as well. The Warriors are calling it an “impaction injury” that resulted in serious bone bruises. Bogut will not need surgery, the team said. Bogut was hurt Sunday night about 90 seconds into the third quarter when he blocked a shot by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ J.R. Smith, then landed awkwardly. It’s a major blow to Golden State’s defensive scheme. Bogut blocked five shots in Game 2 of the finals, and the Warriors’ defensive numbers are typically much better when he is on the floor. Wi...

Group steps up effort to remove judge in Stanford swimmer rape case Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky has faced intense outcry after sentencing 20-year-old Brock Tuer, seen above, to six months in jail and three years’ probation for the assault. (Santa Clara County Sheriff via AP, File) By Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — A women’s advocacy group says it will tu in petitions urging a Califoia agency to remove the judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. The organization, UltraViolet, says it’s collected more than 824,000 signatures and other groups have gathered thousands more that they’...

MONTEREY PARK >> A decorated Army soldier from the San Gabriel Valley was identified Sunday as the ninth victim of a drowning disaster during training at Fort Hood, as Texas was hit by flooding last week. Spc. Yingmin Sun, 25, of Monterey Park, was killed in the training accident Thursday, the Pentagon aounced. Sun was a heavy equipment driver who drowned as a truck washed down the rain-swollen Owl Creek on the sprawling Army base in Central Texas. During his Army career, which started in 2013, he had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Korea Defense Service Medal and Overseas Service Ribbon. Eight other soldiers were kil...