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Ellyn Mogford found the bus. It was a 1980s school bus repurposed into a rolling, blue-and-gold declaration of devotion to the St. Louis Rams, complete with hand-painted logos, 10 years worth of season parking permits tacked above the steering wheel and more than a dozen season schedules plastered above the ier windshield. • VIDEO: Grant Mogford takes the Rams fan bus for a spin After the family bought season tickets for the Rams’ retu to Los Angeles, Ellyn was looking for tailgating gear to give to her husband, Grant, shortly before Father’s Day. When she found the ad from a “disgruntled” St. Louis fan who wanted to unload the bus, she showed it to Grant as a passing oddity. “Of course, I ...

A fully packed red, white, and blue Team USA bag inside a Signal Hill apartment Thursday moing sat ready to be picked up and carried to the airport. It belonged to 11-year-old Gabe Tyler, the younger brother of Long Beach native and Oympian Ariana Washington. Thanks to the generosity of the Long Beach community, Gabe, along with Ariana’s mother, Euna, were headed to Rio on Thursday to watch Ariana run with Team USA. The money will pay for travel and lodging, as well as additional arrangements for Gabe, who has cerebral palsy. “It means so much knowing that we come from a community that supports her and supports us and always has,” said Euna, a single mother who works as a nurse at Long Beac...

Family members and friends of a man mistakenly shot and killed by a deputy last month confronted the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday and demanded they further investigate the actions of the sheriff’s department. Doell Thompson Jr., 27, was killed in a deputy-involved shooting in Compton on July 28. Deputies believed Thompson was a suspect in a carjacking. But after an investigation, the sheriff’s department admitted in a statement Tuesday that the wrong man had been shot. The carjacking suspect, who led deputies on a chase and shot at them, was arrested later that same moing. “We have determined that there is no evidence that Mr. Thompson was in the carjacked vehicle, nor th...

How you can help the family of Carina Mancera, 26, and Jeabel Anaya, 4, who were shot to death in front of their downtown Long Beach home Saturday night. Donate Friends and family set up a Go Fund Me page to help pay funeral costs. As of Sunday afteoon, donors had already contributed close to $3,000. “Our family is heartbroken with this tragic event, and we hope that you can help us give these two beautiful souls a graceful resting place,” the page says. Say something Long Beach police said detectives believe people in the area witnessed the shooting, and urged them to come forward. Anyone with information regarding the shooting to call detectives Scott Lasch and Michael Hubbard at 562-570-...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> She was asked about expectations leading up the an Olympic Games burdened with quite possibly the lowest expectations of all-time. “Everybody expects the same or better,” Ivana Maksimovic said, “gold.” I’m not sure what’s better than gold at the Olympics, but I’m certain at this point everyone here would settle for reaching the finish line with bodies intact, minds sound and personal belongings secured. Sure, Maksimovic, who won a silver medal in shooting four years ago, can aim for something of a richer hue now. Almost everybody else, however, likely would consider the podium’s top step in Rio to be simple survival. Maksimovic was Serbia’s flag bearer Friday in an o...

A judge stripped several claims from a lawsuit filed by the parents of a college student shot and killed by a Long Beach police officer in 2015, court papers show. In a 13-page ruling issued Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig dismissed claims by Amr Morad and Amal Alkabra for intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as negligent supervision, training, hiring and retention. The judge also dismissed the couple’s claims for civil rights violations, but said the estate of their son, Feras Morad, can move forward with the claim. Kendig additionally found that the plaintiffs’ attoeys will have to shore up their claims for punitive damages against Officer Matthew Hea...

There is no greater thrill for the parent of an athlete than seeing their child make an Olympic team—but as one local family is finding out, that thrill comes with a cost as well. Clara Randolph, a friend of the Washington family, has started a GoFundMe fundraiser page to help send Euna Washington, mother of Long Beach Poly alum and Team USA sprinter Ariana Washington, to Rio for this year’s Olympics. The fundraiser is part of a grassroots effort to make sure that Euna, as well as Ariana’s younger brother, Gabe, can be there to see the Olympics in person. Euna is a single mother and a nurse at Long Beach Memorial, and Gabe has cerebral palsy. He is also his sister’s biggest fan—and in fact h...

Spurred by allegations of abuse in Los Angeles County juvenile halls and camps, the Board of Supervisors called Tuesday for a detailed report on three years of incidents and a review of policies and protocols. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended the review based on “recent allegations that we caot and will not ignore,” he told the board. “Reforming our juvenile justice system remains a big, big challenge for the county of Los Angeles,” Ridley-Thomas said. A report of four probation officers allegedly caught beating a 17-year-old at a Sylmar juvenile hall on April 24 prompted the move. The District Attoey’s Office is reviewing the Sylmar encounter — captured on video and subsequently r...

A judge stripped several claims from a lawsuit filed by the parents of a college student shot and killed by a Long Beach police officer in 2015, court papers show. In a 13-page ruling issued Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig dismissed claims by Amr Morad and Amal Alkabra for intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as negligent supervision, training, hiring and retention. The judge also dismissed the couple’s claims for civil rights violations, but said the estate of their son, Feras Morad, can move forward with the claim. Kendig additionally found that the plaintiffs’ attoeys will have to shore up their claims for punitive damages against Officer Matthew Hea...

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio >> Donald Trump sparked bipartisan backlash after the Republican attacked the bereaved parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who spoke at the Democratic convention last week. Critics from both parties on Saturday questioned whether Trump had the empathy and understanding to be president, particularly after he questioned why mouing mother Ghazala Khan stayed silent during her husband’s Thursday night address. “He was kind of trying to tu that into some kind of ridicule,” Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine said after a campaign event in Pittsburgh. “It just demonstrates again kind of a temperamental unfitness. If you don’t have any more sense of empathy than ...

Friends and Family of Lionel Gibson Jr., who was fatally shot by police May 7, will march to the Long Beach Police Department headquarters on Saturday to demand information in the shooting and ask that policies be put into place to address use of force. Gibson, 21, was shot in Central Long Beach after someone reported he was holding a sub-machine gun, which tued out to be an Airsoft rifle missing any markings, police said at the time of the shooting. Police also released a photo showing the rifle, which was missing an orange tip that would indicate it was not a real gun. The family and community “have major conces over Gibson’s death,” a statement said Friday from a group called The S.T.O.P...

The parents of a mentally ill man who died after a Long Beach police officer shot him at Looff’s Lite-A-Line gaming parlor in December aounced Thursday they have filed a federal lawsuit against the city. The suit, which seeks punitive damages against Police Chief Robert Luna and the officers involved in the shooting, alleges the Long Beach Police Department failed to properly train officers to deal with people living with mental illnesses and that officers’ actions on the night of the shooting “escalated a peaceful encounter” and led to an unjustified use of deadly force. Mharloun Verdejo Saycon, 39, of Carson died after police shot him the night of Dec. 14. The Police Department reported a...

The family of a mentally ill man who died after a Long Beach police officer shot him at Loof’s Lite-A-Line this past December aounced Thursday they have filed a federal lawsuit against the police department. The filing, which seeks punitive damages against Police Chief Robert Luna and the officers involved in the shooting, alleges the Long Beach Police Department failed to properly train officers to deal with subjects living with mental illnesses and that officers’ actions on the night of the shooting “escalated a peaceful encounter” and led to an unjustified use of deadly force. The police department referred a request for comment to the City Attoey’s office. Officials there declined to co...

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s long-shot campaign may have gotten a boost last week when Sen. Ted Cruz declined to endorse fellow Republican Donald Trump. But it’s uncertain if either of the major candidates would be hurt by a strong Johnson showing in November. Cruz’s “vote your conscience” speech at the Republican convention last week was “a backhanded endorsement” of his candidacy, Johnson said Tuesday during a meeting with Southe Califoia News Group staff. “You go into a booth and it’s multiple choice,” Johnson said, suggesting Cruz is “not going to vote for Trump and he’s not going to vote for Hillary (Clinton).” Johnson, a moderate 2-term Republican goveor of the De...

The car salesman seemed somewhat interested to hear I was a sports columnist, and at one point while his manager was crunching numbers inquired if I was working on anything interesting. “Well, there’s that whole story about the Rams moving back to Los Angeles after spending the last 22 years in St. Louis ...” I said. “Cool,” said the salesman, who looked to be in his mid-40s. “Huh,” he immediately added, sounding puzzled. “You mean the Rams were in St. Louis the last 22 years?” For every fan living and dying through the NFL’s long roller-coaster ride back to the second-biggest market in the country, plenty more either didn’t care much or tuned out after getting teased once too often by the p...

SAN DIEGO >> Bringing spirits home and frequent nightmares are all par for the course when you’re a paranormal investigator. Or at least that’s what has happened to the stars of the Destination America television series “Paranormal Lockdown,” Kindred Spirits,” and “Haunted Collector.” “Our houses are definitely haunted,” said Nick Groff of “Paranormal Lockdown” during a Q&A with press Friday at Comic-Con Inteational. “It’s just the line of work we do. ... We’ll have nightmares afterwards.” Co-Star Katrina Weidman agreed and said that she sometimes has nightmares after the duo investigate a location. “If an entity knows about you, they all do,” Weidman said. “We’ve become lighthous...

The three sons of a 91-year-old Long Beach man who was struck by a truck and killed on Veterans Day while riding a motor scooter in Signal Hill filed a wrongful death suit today against the truck driver and his employer. Joseph, John and Raymond Lopez Jr. filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Matthew Licht and Signal Hill-based PFT Alexander Inc. The suit seeks unspecified damages stemming from the death of Raymond Lopez Sr., who served in the Navy in World War II. Licht could not be immediately reached for comment. The accident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at Willow Street and Temple Avenue in Signal Hill. Lopez was riding a scooter because he had difficulty walkin...

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump called Wednesday for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to resign for saying publicly that she feels he is unfit to be president. Lashing out, Trump said the 83-year-old justice’s “mind is shot.” “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee wrote in an early moing tweet on @realDonaldTrump. “Her mind is shot — resign!” Ginsburg said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that she didn’t want to think about the possibility that Trump would be president and predicted that Democrat Hillary Clinton will win and have a few appointment...

Compton teenager took off on a plaed cross-country flight Tuesday as the first step in what he hopes will be a record-setting around-the-world adventure. Isaiah Cooper, 16, took off from Compton airport with a flight instructor on a weeklong round-the-country trip designed to serve as a test run for his larger goal of breaking the Guiess World Record for youngest pilot to fly solo around the world. Isaiah hopes to make the trip when he tus 18. The Guiess record is held by Matt Guthmiller of South Dakota, who was 19 when he circumnavigated the globe on his own in 2014, ending his voyage at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. For his test run that began today, Isaiah will fly to Washington state, th...

Family and friends of Alicia Faith Todd gathered late Friday on the one-year aiversary of her murder to hold a candlelight vigil in the 21-year-old Signal Hill woman’s memory. Todd was found shot to death shortly after 1 a.m. June 24, 2015 in an alley near 21st Street and Lemon Avenue in Central Long Beach. The shooting rocked the community and Todd’s friends and family who remembered her as a brave young woman who stood up for others and was a bright light to those around her. The former Millikan High School track and field athlete was enrolled at Long Beach City College, worked at a Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant in downtown Long Beach and wanted to become a social worker, family and friends...